Ta-Dah! Our Amazing Life!
by SinGrin
Summary: Just a story about how two adopted fathers meet, get to know one another and fall in love. Oh, by the way, one of them is a former assassin. KakaIru, Don't like? You were warned. Rated M because I make a point of being overly cautious.
1. Chapter 1

Genre: Slice-of-Life, Romance, Family, (Action? Maybe?)

Pairings: KakaIru, Ita/OC?(= Still not sure about that one)

Warnings: The characters may seem a little out of character, that is because they are in a world much more like our own rather than one where they're constantly being trained to know it's kill or be killed. Since the world I've placed them in is less intense than the Narutoverse I decided to do the same with the characters. There will most likely be a little bit o' MAN-SEX.

Give it a try. If you don't like it there's a magical button at the top left of your screen that will send you back in time.

Please enjoy.

**Ta-Dah! Our Amazing Life!**

Chapter 1: The KKK and Little Kids in White

KKK was certainly not the best named facility in Konoha. It definitely didn't help that people who went in and out of that building with any sort of regularity tended to be wearing all white outfits However in this little locally owned business, it's name was not pronounced "K-K-K" The owner, employees and everyone who knew better called it 'Triple K'.

This people, was what is called a karate dojo.

If you asked what the K's stood for, you would get a very exuberant answer of "KONOHA KARATE FOR KIDS A HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR CHILDREN WHO STRIVE TO MASTER THE HONORABLE DISCIPLINE OF THE MARTIAL ARTS!" From the small business' owner; Might Gai.

It was here, at the KKK, that Kakashi Hatake had been employed for little over three years. If someone had asked him ten years ago what he saw himself doing right now his answer definitely wouldn't be teaching spoiled brats with too much energy how to beat each other up. But hey, their parents paid him so he couldn't really complain. Kakashi usually taught the older children (which tended to be ages 10-14 years old). But occasionally he'd take over for Kurenai with the younger students (ages 5-9). Asuma looked after the older teens. Gai popped in whenever and wherever he wanted.

"Alright, line up, we're each going to take our turn at the punching bag." Kakashi ordered his students. "First, front kick, then side kick, then switch feet and do the same." He said demonstrating with the designated kicks to the bag with very little effort but nearly toppling the poor thing all the same. He resumed his usual spot, leaning against the one part of the wall not covered by a mirror with his nose buried in a book.

"Ummmm... Sensei?" A small voice asked tentatively. Kakashi closed his book and slipped it into his pocket. He crouched in front of the little girl. _'What's her name again? Hyuga... Hyuga something...'_

"Yes Miss Hyuga?"

She blushed. "S-Sensei, there's a man here. I-I think he wants t-to s-see you." _'Hinata! That's her name!'_ He remembered. _'Wait, a man?'_ Kakashi looked at the door where indeed a man was standing. He had brown hair tied up into a high ponytail. He wasn't one of the parents. At least not to any of the kids in Kakashi's class. Hinata must have noticed that too. Sometimes she could be unnervingly perceptive for an eleven year old.

"Thank you, Miss Hyuga." Kakashi thanked her and stood "Keep at it, I'll be back in a minute." He said to the children who were looking curiously at him as he headed for the door. "Hello, how may I help you?" Kakashi asked with a smile. He noted the large scar across the man's tan face, his clothing (a light brown, waist-length jacket over a clean white t-shirt and jeans) and overall build and demeanor. He was shorter than Kakashi by maybe an inch and, from what the silver-haired man could tell, in decent physical condition. The way he held himself was relaxed but still with good posture, a sign of either hard work or a good raising. _'Oop, I should stop doing that, he's getting nervous.' _Kakashi thought when he noticed the man tensing underneath his scrutiny. "Sorry what was that?" He asked.

"Um, no problem. Can you tell me if you're enrolling new students right now?" He asked with a polite smile and faint blush that lit up his entire face.

"We enroll year round" Kakashi answered."The owner can probably tell you more than I can."

"I tried calling but I never got an answer." The brunette mentioned, a sheepish lopsided smile lit up his face. He probably as the type that didn't enjoy complaining or making a fuss. Kakashi tended like that type of person._'Well what do you know? You're cute.' _Kakashi's brain supplied with no small amount of surprise.

Kakashi smiled and scratched his head abashedly. "Eheh, yeah, my boss isn't really one for staying behind a desk all day. You can usually track him down in the training room. It's down the hall first door on your left and down the stairs."

"Alright. Sorry to pull you away from your class. Thank you again." The man went off in the direction Kakashi had instructed him to go. After watching him leave Kakashi returned to his class just in time to see a boy try to show off and do a flying side-kick to the punching bag. The result was the brat falling flat on his butt and the bag wobbling dangerously over him. Kakashi hurried and caught the thing before it could fall on top of him. _'Fu, that was close.' _He sighed internally. The kid's were all staring at him with wide eyes and open mouths.

"Maa Kiba, you should be more careful." Kakashi commented. They snapped out of it and in seconds his ears were ringing with loud praises "That was amazing Hatake-sensei!" and questions "How did you move so fast!? You were over by the door and then you were like, FWAH! And then you were over here in a flash like, Zaaaa!"

Kakashi sighed and ran a hand over his face, "If you guys work hard maybe some day you'll be able to do it too."

"Teach us how, Sensei!" "Yeah! Yeah! Teach us how to do it!" The kids swarmed around him.

"Sorry but you guys are just learning the basics right now, it's too advanced for the level you're at." Kakashi said, his hands held in front of him.

"AAWWW!" His student's whined almost in union. _'It's... kind of creepy when they do that...'_

Kakashi looked at the clock and stifled a sigh of relief, only five minutes until the lesson was over. He liked the little monsters alright but he'd had enough of them today.

"Alright, do three laps around the room and then you guys can head out." Kakashi said, pushing the punching bag back against the wall with little effort. His students grumbled dejectedly as they circled around the edge of the room a dozen pairs of small feet padding along the tatami mats. The parents lingered in the other room waiting and watching through the large ceiling to floor windows that constituted as a single wall.

After the kids finished their laps they dispersed and headed for the door, all except for a young boy with black hair spiked up at the back and a blank expression on his face.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi asked.

"When is Itachi done with class?"

"He should be done in about fifteen minutes." Kakashi answered. "If you want to get changed before we leave you can." Kakashi said setting a hand on the boy's head.

"You should change, it's embarrassing to be seen out in public with a grown man in an outfit like that." Sasuke muttered brushing Kakashi's hand off irritably.

"Ouch, that's a bit harsh." Kakashi said with a chuckle. His laughter stopped when he noted the dark rings underneath the boy's eyes. "Sasuke-"

"What?" Sasuke grunted. He didn't want to talk about it, as usual.

"Nothing. You did well today." Kakashi said with a smile.

Sasuke scowled at the mats on the floor but his eyes looked a little brighter for a moment. "Thanks." He grunted after a short pause.

"How about you go get your stuff and find your brother while I change?" Sasuke nodded and walked off towards the door. Kakashi followed a few paces behind but split off once he was outside of the room so he could grab his bag with a change of clothes and head off to the bathroom.

That was another thing that Kakashi had never guessed would happen. His third cousin, Fugaku Uchiha and his entire family, with the exception of his two sons, perished in a house fire. About a week after the fact Kakashi's phone had rang and he'd been asked to come in and take custody of the boys. Kakashi had been hesitant at first, but the looks in their eyes got to him the moment he saw them. He quit his old job and got a couple newer, safer ones with an average 9-5 schedule, he bought a house to make a better home for the kids than his tiny old apartment could ever have been, and had done his best caring for them ever since. It had been difficult at first. Learning how to take care of them, Itachi contradicting everything that he said, Sasuke's horrible new phobia of fire, the adjustment to a new school since the house Kakashi lived in was just barely in a different district than the one the boys used to live in. That had been three, almost four, years ago. Sasuke was now ten years old and Itachi was about to turn sixteen.

_'Huh...'_ Kakashi hadn't thought about that in a while. The dark rings under Sasuke's eyes must have brought the memories back. Kakashi wondered if the boy was having night terrors again. He'd keep an ear out tonight. He flipped the lock on the bathroom door and began to strip out in the middle of the room, not bothering to try to cram himself into one of those tiny stalls.

"Tch!" He flinched as an unpleasant pain shot through his shoulder when he bent his arm in a way an old wound obviously disliked. He turned and looked at himself in the mirror as if the large, ragged scar across his left shoulder were radiating visible pain. His shirt covered most of the twisted line of flesh, but Kakashi knew well that it was there. Grumbling he began massaging it. _Five years after the fact and the damn thing still hurts.'_ He grumbled in his mind. This time he pulled the jacket of his uniform off more carefully. Underneath his gi he wore a tight, black, sleeveless shirt that extended up his neck to cover his nose and the entire lower half of his face. His left eye was covered by a patch. If someone looked closely they could see a scar peeking out from beneath the small bit of cloth and his own silvery bangs. People were almost always alarmed by his appearance at first. The kids had stopped calling him 'Bandit-sensei' only a couple of weeks ago and the little Hyuga girl had only just stopped looking like she was afraid that he was going to eat her every time he looked in her direction.

Pulling a long-sleeved, battleship grey t-shirt on over his head, he wondered about that man who had walked in just before his class had ended. He hadn't seemed too put off by Kakashi's mask. That wasn't something he saw every day. '_I wonder what kind of people he hangs out with if he can look at me without so much as blinking. That scar too...'_

Remembering Itachi and Sasuke were probably waiting on him. He hurried to change into a pair of dark jeans before quickly leaving the bathroom. He was in such a hurry that he bumped into someone. Whoever they were, they stumbled back due to the force of the impact, Kakashi recovered soon enough to grab them by the shoulders and steady them. "Whoops, sorry about that." Kakashi said shooting them an apologetic grin before getting a good look at who they were. _'Oh, it's that ponytail guy from before.'_ "Oh, Hi there." Kakashi said after a good ten seconds of just staring at the poor man. He mentally rolled his eyes at himself. "You alright?" He tried again finally releasing the Pony-tailed man's shoulders.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going as well." The man said, scratching at his scar. He looked a little nervous and a slight blush tinted his cheeks.

"Maa, it's not a problem. So did you find him alright Mr...?" Kakashi asked hoping for a name to put with that smile he had seen earlier.

"Oh! Umino Iruka, Yes I did find him, thank you."

"Dolphin?" Kakashi asked. He saw the beginnings of a frown on the man's face. "My name's Hatake Kakashi, I'm one of the instructors here. Pleased to meet you Umino-san." Kakashi said bowing his head.

"The feeling's mutual, Hatake Sensei." Iruka stated bowing his head slightly.

"So, are you interested in joining the adult classes?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh no, not me. My son wants to join." He answered. _'Ah well.' _Kakashi sighed mentally.

"I see, how old is your son?" Kakashi asked with a smile.

"He's eleven." _'Same age as Sasuke, hell, maybe he won't scare this one off.'_

"Ah, excellent, he'd be entering my class then. My own son's in there too." Well, Sasuke was legally Kakashi's adopted son.

Iruka's face brightened. "Wonderful, I hope they become friends." Kakashi smiled back and agreed before saying his goodbyes and hurrying off in the direction of Asuma's classroom where, with any luck Itachi and Sasuke would still be.

As he walked down the hallway Kakashi spotted Sasuke standing just outside of the doorway looking inside with an almost reverent expression on his face. Kakashi walked up behind him. "He's improved even more." Sasuke murmured. His voice was a mix of awe and frustration. His large black eyes were focused on his older brother who was at that moment artfully assassinating an imaginary foe. It actually was quite amazing to watch.

"Yes, he has..." Kakashi agreed. Sasuke scowled. Sometimes the boy could be so transparent no matter how hard he tried. Kakashi set a hand on his ward's shoulder. "But you've improved just as much. Keep working hard and I know you'll catch up in no time" He said squeezing the small shoulder briefly. Sasuke looked up at him and Kakashi looked straight back. The boy was scanning what little of Kakashi's face he could see for any sign that the man was ingenuine. Which was, in Kakashi's opinion, ridiculous since he was usually quite up front with his criticisms.

"Speaking of which, do you think you're ready for the next set?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke nodded.

"Good. I'll let Gai know."

"Hn."

A few minutes pass and Itachi finished his graceful slaughter of invisible enemies. He headed off to change into street clothes before they left.

"Kakashi," Itachi started. Kakashi had a good idea of what the kid was going to ask.

"Hm?" He asked anyway.

"Mind if I borrow the car tonight?" Itachi inquired without hesitation. '_That's Itachi for you.'_

"Sure, but basic rules apply; no drinking and driving, no sex in my car-"

Itachi cleared his throat and Kakashi could just picture the teen glowering at him and flicking his eyes back and forth between the man and the young boy in the back seat. _'Oh come on, ever since Sasuke got his hands on an Icha Icha novel when he was seven there's no use dodging around the 'S' word.'_

"And I need the car by tomorrow morning for work." Kakashi finished as if Itachi hadn't interrupted.

"Tomorrow's Sunday." Itachi said leaning back into his seat.

"Right." Kakashi muttered. His mind felt foggy for a moment. "Nevermind then, but have it back by noon tomorrow please. Sasuke needs more underwear."

"Kakashi!" Sasuke hissed kicking the back of Kakashi's seat. Smirking internally Kakashi could sense the boy's embarrassment.

"Are you alright, Kakashi?" Itachi asked.

"Yeah." He answered shaking away the fog that had suddenly filled his head. "Just tired."

He felt Itachi's piercing gaze on the side of his skull.

To be continued...

* * *

Okay, there's chapter 1! I personally believe that my writing on this is a bit sloppy. This is the first Naruto fiction that I've published. I accept constructive criticism. Flames will be considered, ridiculed, then ignored. Please do review, it would be very nice to know that someone is reading my stuff. The next chapter should be up in a couple of days. I'll try to delve into Iruka's life a little.


	2. Chapter 2

Hello! Here's chapter two. I just want to thank everyone for reviewing. I'm still trying to figure out the process of actually responding to your reviews, is there a button I'm missing? I click the 'moderate and continue' button and everything poofs. I'm a failure at technology TAT

So I have one vote for an ItaDei pairing. I'm still mulling it over at the moment. Most likely by the next chapter I'll have made my decision.

By the way, I forgot to do this at the last chapter and as to avoid the risk of being sued I must mention that I do not own Naruto.

Anyways please enjoy.

Chapter 2: The Dolphin and the Orange Blonde Blur

The cozy apartment owned by one Iruka Umino was filled with the smells and sounds of cooking. The loud chattering of an excited child added a slightly rough texture to the otherwise peaceful medley.

"So Iruka did you get me karate lessons? Didja? Huh? Huh!?" A small blonde boy prodded crowding his guardian who was putting the last touches on their dinner.

"Yes Naruto, You start them on Tuesday. Now go sit down." Iruka scooped the rice out of the little steamer and plopped it into bowls. After another minute or so, he turned the burner of the stove off and scraped the stir-fried chicken and vegetables out of the saucepan and on top of the rice.

"That long!? Awwww. Iruka-senseeeei!" The boy whined plopping into a chair at the kitchen table.

"It's only three days Naruto." Iruka said setting one of the bowls in front of the boy "I've met your teacher, he seems pretty good." Iruka stated. _'If not a little...eccentric.' _He thought. The mask and eye-patch were a little peculiar but what had made him a tad uncomfortable was the feeling of being scanned when the karate instructor had looked him over. It wasn't even the good kind of being stared at! Well not at first. When they'd ran into one another near the men's bathroom Iruka had felt a little more at ease even though Hatake-sensei had been holding him by the upper arms... and staring at his face... for about ten seconds...

Naruto's grumbling broke Iruka's train of thought and snapped him back to the present. Naruto pushed his vegetables aside to get at the rice and chicken. "Naruto, eat your veggies." Iruka instructed. Naruto glared at the table for a moment. "Naruto..." Iruka said with a warning in his voice. Naruto reluctantly obeyed, stuffing his vegetables into his mouth.

"You're going to choke!" Iruka exclaimed.

Naruto swallowed the wad of green stuff in a final, eye-watering, gulp. "I'm fine Iruka, you don't have to worry." He said his voice slightly scratchier than usual.

"Who says I don't, idiot? What are you sulking about anyway?" Iruka asked lightly rapping the boy over the head with a calloused knuckle.

"Ow, Iruka-sensei that stings!" Naruto whined holding the spot Iruka had struck.

The pony-tailed man rested the side of his head on his fist and considered the child before him with a subdued expression on his face. "You got into another fight today..."

"Wha- How do you know!?" Naruto exclaimed. Some rice clung to the corner of his mouth. Iruka sighed and plucked the sticky grains off of his adopted son's face with napkin covered fingers.

"Naruto, I work right down the hall from your classroom." Iruka said exasperatedly. "Haven't I told you that you should leave Sakura alone?" _'For a cute little girl she sure can be a brute.' _Iruka thought to himself, eying the large bandage taped to Naruto's elbow and a few of the other smaller ones that decorated his cheek and arms.

"But I really like her, Sensei!" Naruto said. Iruka's brow creased. "She's so pretty..." Naruto admitted a little pink tinting his cheeks. "...and well, she's not nice to me, but I know we could be friends someday! You know?" Iruka shook his head. _'Naruto will do what Naruto will do.' _Iruka thought to himself. Although, it was about time that he learned that he couldn't make friends with everyone he met. But Kami, did the boy need them.

His hyperactivity and overall loud presence usually repelled anyone who came along. Any children who played with him were quickly told not to by their parents who feared he might be a bad influence on them. Naruto was far from being a bad person but he could be a little too much to handle sometimes. He was also ostracized for the markings on his cheeks. Some of the kids even called him 'Whiskers' and other similar things. The nicknames they came up for him would have been cute if they hadn't been said with such obviously cruel intent.

"Anyways if it weren't for that stupid Sasuke-" He was evidently so irritated he couldn't finish his sentence. "Well what's so great about Sasuke anyways! You know?" He said crossing his arms.

"I don't know, Naruto. Now finish your dinner." Iruka said tiredly popping a pepper into his mouth. _'If I had a dime for every time you ranted about the Uchiha boy...' _Iruka mused.

The little blonde boy leaned back into his chair and grumpily gobbled down the rice and chunks of chicken.

"Maybe you'll make some new friends in your karate class." Iruka said after a moment hoping to lighten Naruto's mood.

The boy looked at him and shot him a rare real (albeit tentative) smile. "You think I will, Iruka-sensei?"

Iruka smiled back. "I'm sure you will." Naruto's mouth stretched wide in a 1000 watt grin.

"You're right! After they see what I can do they'll be begging to be my friend!" The little blonde boy said standing on the seat of his chair and punching the air in front of him in quick jabs.

"Well that's not necessarily how it works but it's certainly a good thing you're so enthusiastic." Iruka muttered tiredly. "Anyways get down from there." He said waving Naruto down.

Naruto jumped off the chair, much to Iruka's displeasure "Careful!" He cried when the chair wobbled dangerously beneath Naruto's feet.

"Hey, Iruka-sensei, could we watch a movie after dinner?" Naruto asked ignoring the warning and tugging at Iruka's sleeve.

Iruka sighed with a smile "You finished your homework?" He asked.

"Yeah!" Naruto said stuffing clumps of rice into his mouth.

"Alright. I have some papers to grade but sure, I'll sit with you." Iruka answered. Naruto finished the rest of his rice and placed his bowl and hashi* in the sink. Iruka smiled and ate quickly. Naruto ran into the small living room and looked through the shelves for something to watch while Iruka rinsed off the dishes and left them in the sink for later.

"Did you find anything?" Iruka called into the other room, drying his hands on a dish towel.

"Almost!" Naruto yelled back.

The pony-tailed man dragged his over-full work bag from the front hallway and onto the coffee table while Naruto set the disc in the tray of the DVD player. He set himself to the task of organizing the paperwork while Naruto sprawled himself on the other side of the couch and stared transfixed at the the television screen, on which was a couple of what looked like pirates with superpowers trying their best to kill one another. _'Kami, the crap they're making for kids these days.' _Iruka thought, his eyes occasionally flicking up to the screen from his paper work.

One and a half hours later Naruto was unconscious, slumped comically over the arm of the couch and snoring softly. Iruka smiled softly and shook the boy awake. "Time for bed." He kept his voice soft.

"'m not tired..." Naruto mumbled, his eyes barely open and his movements loose and unbalanced

"Right." Iruka said dubiously and shepherded the half-asleep eleven year old towards the bathroom to get washed up. Iruka nagged the little blonde through brushing his teeth and changing into pajamas until the point when Naruto had assumed his usual sprawled position on the bed with his belly out.

"You'll catch a cold like that." Iruka tsked. "And you left your goggles on." He sighed exasperatedly. Carefully, Iruka pulled the goggles off of the boy's head and placed them on the nightstand. He didn't bother trying to pull the blankets over Naruto, knowing full well that the boy would kick them off in minutes.

"Good night." Iruka said brushing some of the boy's wild hair out of his face. Naruto wrinkled his nose in his sleep and his arm flopped in a half-hearted attempt to bat Iruka's hand away. Iruka chuckled and left the room closing the door behind him quietly. He looked at the clock and sighed when he discovered that it was only eleven-thirty. Despite not feeling all that tired he decided to follow Naruto's example and go to bed. _'This is sad, A single 25 year-old man with nothing to do on a Saturday night.'_ He sighed and shook his head at his own gloomy thoughts. Tugging the elastic band out of his hair he headed for the bathroom. Maybe he would take a nice long bath.

The clouds overhead were thin and pale. What little rain that did come came in drizzling mists that seemed to only last a few minutes before leaving. Every once in a while the sun would peek out from a hole in the clouds but it wouldn't stay long. Overall it was a peaceful morning, meant for lazing around the house or doing everyday errands. It was on a day like this, exactly one year ago Iruka's adoption of Naruto had been finalized.

Small for his age with blonde hair and big blue eyes, seven year-old Naruto Uzumaki had been adorable, if not for his mischievous antics. He would always be in some sort of trouble for some thing or another and was seen by many of the teachers in his grade school as a hopeless case. It was eerie for Iruka, seeing someone so similar to himself when he had been that age. At first the pony-tailed man had been impatient with the little orange knucklehead, seeing someone repeat his own mistakes had been difficult for him to tolerate and more than once he had lost his temper at the boy. Naruto was the class clown but it was only after a few weeks that Iruka noticed that he didn't really have any real friends.

It was then that Iruka began to have a little empathy for the kid. He started speaking with Naruto, checking up on how he was doing. After a while he'd come to actually like Naruto. Underneath that obnoxious behavior was a child that was determined to find someone who cared for him. Before long, Iruka caught himself designing the seating arrangements around the hope that Naruto would find a friend in whoever he put him next to. The teacher kept a watchful eye on him and stayed behind to make sure that he was safely picked up by his foster mother, a rather kind but mealy-mouthed woman by the name of Aya. Even after Naruto had graduated into the next grade he and Iruka had kept in contact. Since Iruka was no longer the boy's teacher he could take Naruto out for his favorite new food -ramen- every once in a while whenever Naruto's foster mother was working late.

It was around the time when Naruto had turned nine that Iruka had noticed something was off about him. He was more isolated, less of his usual loud and obnoxious self. The boy had started wearing long sleeves and pants even on warm days. It was when one time Iruka had gone to pat Naruto on the shoulder that he knew exactly what was going on. The boy had flinched so violently that he'd nearly overturned his bowl of ramen. Iruka had apologized and dropped Naruto off at home soon after that. He remembered the nauseous feeling he had had when Naruto stepped through that door wishing that he could take the boy away right then and there. As soon as Iruka had gotten home that night he'd dug out the number of a social worker and personal friend and was on the phone within minutes.

It turned out that Naruto's foster mother's new boyfriend, who had just recently moved into Aya's house, had a bit of a drinking problem that brought out a real mean-streak in the man. So Naruto had been removed from that home and Iruka had applied for his adoption rights the very next morning. Two weeks were spent looking through the teacher's pristine (besides a few traffic tickets) background and then Naruto had moved in.

It had taken a while to get the old hyperactive Naruto back but after a few months the boy was smiling and laughing again. He no longer shied away from sudden movements after a couple months which Shizune had said was wonderful progress for so soon after he'd been removed from his old environment. After about a year Iruka had gained full custody of Naruto. An event they celebrated by ingesting almost lethal amounts of ramen and chocolate cake.

"Iruka-sensei!" The sound of the boy's voice outside of Iruka's bedroom door brought him out of his reminiscence. Naruto burst into the room and ran over to the patio door where Iruka was standing.

"Yes Naruto what is it?" Iruka asked running a brush through his sleep-mussed hair.

"Can I go shopping with you today?" He asked looking hopefully up at his former teacher.

Iruka raised an eyebrow and was about to ask why but _'But Naruto hates shopping.' _He thought "Alright Naruto, is there somewhere you want to go?" Iruka asked tying his hair back into it's usual ponytail.

"Um... Well, can we go to Ichiraku's after we're done?" Naruto asked kicking the hardwood floor with his foot with his hands linked behind his back and his head bowed.

_'Oohh... It _has_ been a while, hasn't it?' _Iruka mused, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Why not? It's a special day anyways." He said, ruffling Naruto's hair

"It is?" The boy asked giggling, batting away Iruka's hand and readjusting his goggles on his head.

"It is. It's the first anniversary of you and I officially becoming a family." Iruka said.

"What!? It's been a whole year already!?" Naruto asked his large blue eyes stretched even wider.

"Yep. Let's celebrate a little." Iruka said crossing his arms and grinning down at the excited boy.

"Woohoo!" Naruto cheered, dashing out of the room at a speed only children seemed to be capable of. Iruka, chuckling, closed the door behind him and changed into a pair of light denim knee-length shorts and a dark green t-shirt.

By the time Iruka was ready Naruto was bouncing around the kitchen with a pop tart in his mouth. "Naruto that's not a proper breakfast." Iruka said. "Set the table and I'll make you some toast."

"Buh a oa'eh ih!" Naruto protested.

"Don't talk with your mouth full."

"I toasted it!" Naruto said after swallowing the chunk of pop tart in his mouth.

"That doesn't make it good for you." Iruka stated.

"Then why do ya buy them?"

"Because they're good to make you stop whining." Iruka said rolling his eyes.

"I don't whine!" Naruto protested loudly.

Iruka pushed a couple slices of bread into the toaster and went to pour some milk for Naruto and some coffee for himself. "Ew, why do you like that stuff, Sensei?" Naruto asked from his seat at the table. Iruka turned and smiled at the look of obvious disgust Naruto directed at the mug of black liquid.

"It's good. Really." Iruka answered taking a sip and making an exaggerated hum of contentment. Naruto stuck his tongue out and made a retching noise. "Just wait until you grow up. You'll practically live off of this stuff." Iruka said smiling. Naruto looked horrified. _'That is if you don't hold onto any of that incredible amount of energy when you get older. Kami-sama help us if you do.' _Iruka thought. Placing the toast on a plate and setting it in front of Naruto. Naruto smeared jelly on them and gobbled them down.

"Do you have to do everything fast?" Iruka shook his head exasperatedly. "Chew your food." Naruto reluctantly slowed down and began eating like a human being. Iruka munched on his own toast and listed everything they had to do in his mind. _'Grocery, Ichiraku's... Well that's not a very fun line-up...' _Iruka thought.

"Let's do something fun today Naruto. Want to go to the park?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah!" Naruto said with a wide grin.

* * *

Woohoo! I hope I didn't bore you, I just wanted to get into some of Iruka and Naruto's history. The story may pick up speed soon but I sort of want Iruka and Kakashi to have a nice reasonably paced relationship. Reviews may just decide the fate of one Itachi Uchiha's heart... So... Clicky, clicky...Yeah...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: Pre-Teen Angst and Lewd T-Shirts

Just like Kakashi had thought, around one in the morning he heard a muffled cry from down the hallway. He silently padded towards Sasuke's bedroom door and knocked. There was no reply for the few seconds Kakashi waited "I'm coming in." He stated opening the door a moment later.

Sasuke was sitting up in his bed, his breathing was coming out faster than usual. The boy glared down at his own shaking hands that were balled up into white-knuckled fists. "I'm fine." He gritted out.

"I know." Kakashi stated sitting on the edge of his bed. Sasuke looked up at him, clearly surprised. "I was just wondering if you wanted a sandwich. I always get hungry around this time. You?" A crease appeared between the boy's eyebrows but he nodded a moment later. "Alright then, join me in the kitchen?" Sasuke nodded again and pushed his covers back to get out of bed.

Kakashi busied himself chopping the veggies for the sandwiches and asked "The usual?"

"Yeah." Sasuke mumbled.

The kitchen was silent again for a few minutes as Kakashi went about making their meal. Kakashi set the sandwiches down in front of Sasuke and was in the process of putting the ingredients away when the kid finally spoke. "It was just another dream about that night. Nothing I'm not used to." Kakashi froze for a split second then continued on with what he was doing.

"I see." He said. There was another long pause.

"Kakashi... Do you... Do you still have dreams about... about when..." Sasuke faded out, unable to finish the question. Kakashi didn't need him to to know what he was asking.

"I do." He stated casually. "And it still upsets me when it happens. I don't think that will ever change." What little light that was in Sasuke's eyes dimmed slightly. "It does get easier though, Sasuke."

Sasuke looked at the man with poorly disguised hope.

"You don't have to be strong all the time. There's strength in knowing when to show weakness too." Kakashi stated. _'What am I thinking, saying cheesy lines like that to a kid?'_ Sasuke looked thoroughly confused. Kakashi put on a brief and unconvincing smile that wasn't even visible anyway. "Maybe you'll understand when you're older." He pulled down his mask and picked up a sandwich from his plate. "Let's eat."

After finishing their late night snack Sasuke headed back up to bed while Kakashi cleaned up. Hopefully the boy would get some sleep after this. _'Oh well, tomorrow's Sunday, so he can sleep in anyways.'_ Kakashi surmised setting the two freshly washed dishes in the drying rack. He was halfway up the stairs to his own room when he heard the sound of the front door opening and closing. He retraced his steps heading back down the stairs and looked at the clock, "2:02" He mumbled to himself. He poked his head out into the front hallway. "Hello." He greeted Itachi as the teen hung his jacket up on the coat rack.

"What are you doing up this late?" Itachi asked. Kakashi hesitated for a moment. "Sasuke had another dream?" That was something that had never ceased to annoy Kakashi when Itachi was younger. Almost nothing got past the older Uchiha.

Kakashi sighed and nodded. "He's better, for now, at least. We talked." Itachi nodded. "So I forgot to ask, what were you up to tonight?"

"Have I ever mentioned that if Sasuke or I were anyone else we'd probably be dead or in prison under your care?"

"Well I obviously failed at teaching you boys any manners..." Kakashi sighed. "It's only because it's you two that I know it's safe to leave you to your own devices sometimes. Anyways, don't change the subject. What were you up to?"

"I was over at Sasori's place."

"The annoying one with too much hair?"

"No, that's Deidara. Sasori has short red hair."

"Oh right." Kakashi muttered absently not remembering anyone named Sasori with red hair. "You two didn't do anything I'll get a phone call about in the morning?"

"No." Itachi answered.

"Nothing either potentially or immediately harmful to your well-being?"

"No, we just watched movies."

"Alright then." Kakashi said heading back towards the stairs. Itachi followed a few steps later. "I'm heading back to bed then. Good night Itachi."

"Hn." Was all the man got in return.

_'Absolutely no manners. Maybe I can enroll Sasuke in etiquette lessons. Itachi's probably too far gone.' _Kakashi mused, going up the stairs to his bedroom.

* * *

The next morning found Kakashi cooking omelets. Ignoring the eight pairs of hungry eyes trained on him and the skillet. "You guys will have your food." He said to the cluster of furry beggars. Obviously this didn't deter them. All of them wagged their tails when he acknowledged their existence. He snapped his fingers and pointed to the open door to the living room. "Out!" He said in a clear, authoritative voice. The dogs reluctantly followed his command, focusing baleful gazes on him, which Kakashi ignored, all the way until they'd left the room.

"Maybe if you stopped feeding them people food they wouldn't beg so often." Itachi's voice remarked from the stairs.

"Maybe if you stopped 'accidentally' dropping food whenever you cook they wouldn't get their hopes up." Kakashi retorted a small smile evident in his voice. _'Surprisingly you're not always as chilly as you act.'_

"Hn." Itachi grunted and took a seat at the kitchen table. Kakashi took the omelet from the skillet and slid it onto a plate which he set in front of the older Uchiha brother.

"Is Sasuke awake yet?" Kakashi asked, cracking more eggs into a mixing bowl and picking up the whisker.

"I don't think so." Itachi picked up his utensils and started cutting the food into small pieces.

"Alright." Kakashi hummed, vaguely concentrating on making the eggs fluffy. Kami, he was exhausted. Working two full-time and one part time job was taking a toll on him.

"You should quit one of your jobs." Itachi stated. _'That kid has to be psychic.' _Kakashi thought with a small amount of annoyance.

"Yeah, you're right." Kakashi mumbled without much commitment.

"The job at the karate dojo pays the least."

"But Sasuke likes it there."

"Can't he still take classes there even if you quit?"

"He could but I'm not sure how constructive or... pleasant his time there would be."

"What do you mean?"

"Remember what happened to that substitute for Kurenai-san last year?" They both paused to remember the poor girl who'd left the KKK in a fit of angry tears. Kakashi poured the liquid eggs into the skillet, savoring the hissing sound as the golden goo made contact with the hot iron. He threw some diced tomatoes, peppers, and cheese in with the eggs.

"I'm sure Kurenai-sensei or Asuma-Sensei would be able to deal with him better than she did." Itachi stated taking a bite of his omelet.

"Probably, but it would be slower. I can't even imagine Gai trying to teach him." Kakashi sighed scratching his scalp mussing his already wild hair even more.

"Can't he take his time?"

"I suppose, but isn't Sasuke supposed to be enjoying lessons like this, rather than being in such a bad mood that he'd make sixteen year old girl cry?"

"It's not that difficult to make a girl that age cry."

"This is coming from one of Konoha High School's most infamous heartbreakers." Kakashi leveled a blank look at Itachi. "Still, my point is valid. I wouldn't mind quitting so long as I knew he had a friend or two to keep him company there."

"That's what you're worried about?" Itachi asked, his eyes widening the slightest bit.

"You've noticed it too right? He rarely talks to anyone besides you and me unless he has to." Kakashi stated flipping the omelet over on itself.

"I have. But perhaps if you left he'd make friends on his own."

The silver-haired man hummed, patting the omelet with the spatula and staring absently at the sizzling yellow lump. "If that were true he would have made friends already when he was in Kurenai's class."

Itachi brought out the big guns. "It's great that Sasuke has an instructor like you. But overall he needs a healthy and capable parent. You need to take care of yourself too, Kakashi."

Kakashi turned to look at Itachi "I'm being lectured by someone ten years younger than me." He murmured. "I'll consider quitting. For the time being, just help me keep an eye on him."

Itachi stared long and hard at Kakashi but in the end he nodded silently and went back to eating his omelet.

"I'm running some errands today, need anything?" Kakashi asked to break the silent tension just as much to change the subject.

Itachi smirked. "I'll come with you, I need a few more pairs of pants."

"So, the mall?"

"Yeah."

"Alright then."

Their conversation was interrupted by the soft creaking of the stairs and the distinct sound of bare feet padding across finished wood.

"Ah, just in time, Sasuke." Kakashi stated scooping up the omelet and setting it on a plate.

Sasuke yawned and took his usual seat at the table. Kakashi set the plate in front of the younger brother and asked. "Anywhere in particular you want to go today?"

"The book store." Sasuke muttered.

"My, you're a strange child." Kakashi joked. Sasuke scowled half-heartedly at him, Itachi popped a piece of omelet into his mouth with a small smirk on his lips. "Alright. Mall, bookstore, grocery." Kakashi muttered resuming his position, leaning against the kitchen counter with the warm mug of coffee in his hands. He closed his eye and inhaled the the scent of the bitter brew wishing he could postpone the busy day ahead.

* * *

The mall wasn't too terribly crowded. Most of the teenagers were sleeping in and it was time for the older people to come out of their week long hibernation to wander aimlessly through the mall's hallways in search of items they didn't need. Itachi headed straight for his favorite store once the three males entered the building. Sasuke and Kakashi followed him at a slower pace taking time to look around and see if they liked anything displayed in the shop windows.

"Hey, Kakashi." There was a tug on the silver-haired man's sleeve. "Can we go in there?" Sasuke asked pointing to the window of a shop that seemed to be selling video games.

"Sure. Itachi." The older boy stopped and turned to loom back at them. "Come get us when you need to pay." Itachi nodded and walked off again.

Kakashi followed Sasuke into the video game store and had a look around himself. Itachi's birthday was coming up soon. Would he be interested in any of this? No, probably not. Sasuke looked around for a while and after glaring at one of the games stacked on a high shelf for two minutes he decided that he didn't want anything. "Are you sure you don't want it?" Kakashi asked the boy.

Sasuke looked back at the game. "I'm sure."

"Alright then, let's go find your brother, ne?" The masked man said stepping out into the mall corridor.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and followed Kakashi out of the store. Before they had reached Itachi Sasuke tugged on the back of Kakashi's shirt.

"Hm?" Kakashi hummed looking down at his younger ward curiously.

"I don't want to go that way." Sasuke stated. Kakashi looked in the direction Sasuke had indicated. It was seconds before he noticed what, or rather, who it was that Sasuke didn't want to cross paths with. A group of girls around Sasuke's age were standing and looking into a store window. At the forefront of the group were two girls Kakashi knew he had seen before. "They're annoying." Sasuke grumbled.

"Alas! To be cursed with such good looks." Kakashi jested mimicking the action of a fashion model glamorously flipping her hair over her shoulder.

There was something that sounded suspiciously like a soft snort of laughter from behind Kakashi. _'Ah, there we go.' _He smiled a little beneath his mask at the fact that, at times, he could cheer Sasuke up. _'See? I'm not a total failure at parenting.'_ They stopped in front of the store Itachi frequented.

If teenage angst had a window display, this would be it.

Most of the so-called 'clothing' was intentionally ripped, splattered with bleach or paint or patched. The skirts resembled frilly belts more than anything and the pants threatened to make any young man wearing them infertile for life. The t-shirts were covered in band logos, references from old movies, TV shows or cartoons as well as poorly disguised innuendos even a grade schooler could understand. Kakashi and Sasuke looked on completely unimpressed.

They stepped inside the store and looked around for a familiar head of long black hair. The place was reasonably small and the shelves were low enough for Kakashi to see over them easily so they found the elder Uchiha quickly.

"Find anything?" Kakashi asked from his spot behind Itachi.

"Two pairs of pants and one shirt." Itachi stated, looking at a dark blue shirt pensively.

"It's almost summer. How about you pick out some warmer weather clothes too?" Kakashi said catching sight of a pair of shorts a little way's down the aisle.

Itachi stared at the clothes in his arms. He seemed to make up his mind and left to put a pair back. Kakashi turned in time to see Sasuke pulling a shirt from one of the shelves. "Do you like that one Sas-?" He choked when he saw what decorated the front of the shirt. Large letters spelling out "Bitch Mode" Underneath the text were two check boxes with the words 'on' and 'off' next to them. A large red check mark was made through the box next to 'on'. However accurate that may be sometimes it still wasn't terribly appropriate for an eleven year-old.

"Um How about we go look for something closer to your size." Kakashi said, taking the shirt out of Sasuke's hands and putting it back on the shelf before pulling the now confused and annoyed boy in the direction of what looked like smaller sizes of clothing. Kakashi had barely kept himself from laughing.

"Kakashi." Sasuke's annoyed voice called from behind the man.

"Yes?"

"You're acting weird."

"Me? Never." Kakashi said sarcastically. Sasuke scowled and turned to look at some shirts that were, hopefully, more appropriate for his age.

Kakashi looked around in search of Itachi when he caught the eye of one of the sales clerks. She walked up to him "Hey, we have a sale going on. Two tank tops for $25 store-wide."

"Thank you." Kakashi said smiling politely although you could only tell by the slight upturn of his closed eye.

"Cute kid ya got there." She said looking at Sasuke who was just out of earshot. Which was fortunate, really, since the boy absolutely hated being called cute. _'You're still talking to me?' _Kakashi wondered. She crossed her arms over her chest which, now that Kakashi got a good look at it, was covered with little more than her jacket and a mesh undershirt. _'Is this why this is your favorite store, Itachi? She looks like she could be my age.'_ Kakashi wondered.

"Thank you." Kakashi said.

"So are you a ninja or a pirate?" She asked a smirk on her thin lips.

"Excuse me?" Kakashi asked.

"Your-" she gestured to her own face obviously indicating Kakashi's mask and eye patch. "It's a bit confusing."

"Ah, I apologize for the confusion." Kakashi replied smiling._ 'I can't tell if you're making fun of me.' _"But I'm neither."

"Then what are you?" She asked.

"A man who would like to continue his shopping." Kakashi answered trying his best to keep his tone light.

"Do you have scars or something under that?" She asked.

"No." Kakashi answered.

"So you wear a mask for no reason?"

"No, I have a reason."

"Then what is it?"

"What is what?"

"What's your reason?"

"My reason? That's a little persona-"

"For the mask!?"

"What about my mask?"

"Nevermind!" She barked storming away. Kakashi felt eyes on him, he turned to find Sasuke looking up at him. "Can't you just tell her to go away like a normal human being?" The boy asked.

"She didn't strike me as the type to listen." Kakashi replied.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and held up a shirt. "I want this one." Kakashi inspected it briefly for anything obscene or insulting and after it passed the test he nodded.

"You don't have to get just one. You need some shirts right?" Kakashi asked.

"I guess." The kid mumbled.

"Go pick a couple more out." The masked man turned Sasuke around with a hand on his shoulder and gave him a little push forward. Sasuke shot a half-hearted scowl over his shoulder.

"Kakashi." A familiar monotone voice spoke from behind him.

"Itachi. Are you ready?"

"Yes."

"Alright. Sasuke needs a few new shirts so let's wait a minute." Kakashi said. Itachi nodded and stood patiently beside him. A few moments later Sasuke walked up to the two with the clothing he wanted and they headed for the checkout. A kid with wild orange hair, brown eyes and multiple piercings in his nose, lower lip and ears greeted them at the counter. He smiled and waved at Itachi.

"Hey, how are you?" He asked looking between Kakashi and Itachi. The pale man held his hand up in a silent wave.

"We're fine." Itachi said. Surprisingly, the older Uchiha avoided eye contact with the orange-haired male. The long-haired teen pushed his and Sasuke's purchases further onto the counter bowing his head and needlessly brushing his bangs away from his face. The uncharacteristic mannerism wasn't lost on Kakashi who raised a single eyebrow and watched to see if anything more interesting would happen. Sasuke looked boredly through the small trinkets set by the cash register for last minute purchases.

The pierced man ran the clothes through the system all the while chatting. "So Itachi, is this your little brother?" He asked looking down at Sasuke.

"Yes, this is Sasuke." Itachi muttered.

Sasuke eyed the redhead for a moment then turned away with a "Hn."

"The resemblance is almost uncanny." He chuckled. "By the way, why do you come here if you only buy the plain stuff?" He held up one of the dark blue tank tops and scanned its tag.

"I like the way they're cut here." Itachi answered. _'Weak.'_ Kakashi nearly rolled his eyes.

The clerk shrugged. "Whatever you say. So are you planning on actually getting some sun this summer?" He asked, holding up a pair of shorts and folding them over his arm.

"Maybe." Itachi said.

"Don't stay out for too long, though, I think you look better when you're pale."

A faint blush was obvious to anyone who was looking for it on Itachi's face. "I... Thank you, I'll keep that in mind."

The clerk smiled and passed him the bag of clothing "That'll be 206.56 ryou. Do you have your rewards card?" He asked. Itachi pulled out his wallet and handed the man his card. "Alright, you guys got a 15% discount leaving the total at 175.58." Kakashi handed over his card which the redhead swiped and handed back to him.

"Alright, have a nice day you guys." The clerk waved them goodbye. Itachi was the first to turn away. He walked ahead of the two without looking back until they left the mall.

* * *

"I never knew you swung that way, Itachi." Kakashi hummed halfway through the car ride home as calmly as if he were commenting on the weather.

Itachi paused for a moment and then said "I don't know what you're talking about."

"He's saying you're gay." Sasuke murmured indelicately from the back seat.

"Sasuke, where did you learn that word?" Itachi asked turning in his seat. Sasuke rolled his eyes and looked out of the window.

"What's his name again?" Kakashi asked.

"...Yahiko." Itachi answered finally.

There was a long pause. "You should invite him out one of these days." Kakashi said "Seems like a nice kid."

"He's at least only eight years younger than you." Itachi said.

"And that's only about two years older than you, aren't you supposed to be arguing his case?"

"Hn." Itachi grunted crossing his arms over his chest. Silently, Kakashi snuck a hand to hover above Itachi's head.

"Wha-" Itachi started. Kakashi's forceful hand came down ruffling the teen's smooth hair. Itachi caught his wrist and pushed it away, irritation obvious in his expression. "What was that for?" He asked.

"Ridiculous." Sasuke muttered.

Kakashi grinned beneath his mask. "Maybe next time you'll ask for his number, ne?" He turned on the windshield wipers as the rain began to pick up.

"Since when is my love life any of your business, Kakashi?" Itachi asked taking his hair tie out and smoothing his already nearly perfect black locks.

"It isn't, but if I didn't push you to do things that would make you happy every once in a while I'd be a poor parent wouldn't I?" Kakashi stated turning the car into the driveway.

"But he's already in college." Itachi opened the car door.

"So?" Kakashi asked, stepping out of the car.

"I'm a minor." Itachi opened the back door and pulled out his bag from the mall.

"As long as he's not taking advantage of you it's fine right?" Kakashi asked opening the door to the mudroom.

"He lives on the other side of town." Itachi followed his adoptive father inside.

"You know where he lives? I'm fine with lending you the car." Kakashi stated, taking off his shoes.

"He's a man." Itachi stated kicking off his shoes beside the masked man.

"I gathered that, and?" Kakashi was eying something suspicious and brown on the bottom of his sneaker.

"Any sane parent would take one look at him and pull out the shotgun." Itachi handed the bag off to Sasuke who took the bag and headed out of the room with one final eye roll.

"We've already concluded I'm not a sane parent." Kakashi stated, sniffing the bottom of his shoe tentatively. "And if he causes any irreparable damage I won't need a gun."

"He has nineteen piercings on his head alone." Itachi stood straight.

"You counted them? You must really like him. Good..." He muttered the last word when he concluded that what was on the bottom of the shoe was only a bit of mud. "What do you want for dinner tonight? I'm going to the grocery later today."

"I can't believe you." Itachi shook his head.

"Listen Itachi, if I'm mistaken and you don't actually like him then fine. But if you do like him go after him. As far as I'm concerned you could certainly do worse." Kakashi said. "If you could make a list of the stuff you want food-wise for the next week that would be nice." The silver-haired man stated and left the mudroom. "You too, Sasuke!" Kakashi called from the hallway.

"Fine!" Sasuke yelled back from the living room where, no doubt, he had curled up with his new book and wouldn't leave for another few hours. Itachi didn't come out of the mudroom for another five minutes when Kakashi poked his head in to see if anything was wrong he spotted Itachi staring at a blank stretch of wall, a contemplative look in his eyes.

Kakashi winced as a twinge of pain surged into life at the base of his skull. Massaging the area he decided to allow Itachi some privacy and went to get himself some migraine medicine.

* * *

So there, I decided on a Yahiko and Itachi for the second pairing. I chose the living Yahiko instead of gloomy-as-hell Deva Path Nagato/Yahiko. I thought, 'Y'know, maybe I should do a pairing that isn't seen too often.' Thank you for your reviews! They feed my motivation _and_ my considerable ego. But my poor ego's still hungry. Feed it... Feeeed it.


	4. Chapter 4

Hello my lovelies, I'm sorry for the late update I was mentally constipated for a couple days and last night, Fanfiction was acting weird.

I've been listening to a bunch of anime and video game soundtracks lately while I write and I must say there are wonderful artists out there. One of the many things that I will miss when Naruto is over is the soundtrack. However I do plan on eventually getting my hands on the many DVDs. Anyways please do enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 4: Middle-Aged Gossips and Life Lessons

They had been caught in the rain at the park. Iruka had gotten the worst of it. It hadn't been a heavy rain but it was enough to soak through the clothing on Iruka's shoulders during the the jog back to the car. Iruka suppressed the chills that ran through his body while Naruto -ever the little human furnace that he was- seemed perfectly happy, even though his spiky hair was matted with the weight of the water and his nose had turned pink from the cold. Still, Iruka told the boy to take off his hoodie and wrap the blanket they had in the back around himself.

"I'm fine Iruka-sensei. I told you, you don't hafta worry about me!" Naruto said pulling off his sweater anyways.

"It's my job to worry about you." Iruka replied pulling onto the main road and turning in the direction of the grocery store.

The grocery store was a place to relax for Iruka. Which, needless to say, is a little sad. However, it came in handy when even the blonde ball of energy dashing around his ankles couldn't rile him up. "Can we get this?"

"No." Iruka said reaching for a bag of tortilla chips on one of the sale racks.

"But you didn't even look at it!" Naruto whined. Iruka turned and looked at what was in Naruto's hands. A dog collar.

"No." Iruka stated flatly hoping not to have this discussion again.

"Pleeeeeease Iruka-Sensei!" Naruto whined.

"I said no, Naruto." Iruka said in a firm tone.

Naruto groaned and complained shooting off classic lines like "It'll teach me responsibility" and "A bunch of other kids have dogs why can't I?" Iruka happily tuned the boy out while he went about checking the items off of his list.

After approximately twenty minutes the two stood in the check out line and Iruka heard someone whispering from behind him. He turned and spotted two middle aged women exchanging hushed words. Their eyes flickered between each other and off in the direction of something to Iruka's right. Over the shelves of candybars and gossip magazines a few rows away from Iruka and Naruto stood a familiar man with gravity-defying silver hair, a mask, and an eye patch with a rather bored look in his single visible eye.

Iruka felt a bit of annoyance when he realized the women were gossiping about a man they didn't even know. He was about to turn around and ignore them when "Hey you!" Naruto's rough voice barked. Everyone went quiet and looked at the boy.

"Naruto." Iruka hissed looking around. Hatake-sensei was already looking in their direction with a mildly surprised expression.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?! You don't even know the guy and you think it's alright to talk behind his back like that!?" Naruto said to the two women, who looked shocked and angry.

"Naruto!" Iruka bellowed "Stop it right now." He said pulling the boy towards him by his upper arm. Naruto scowled and he looked like was going to say more. Iruka covered the boy's mouth with his hand and bowed apologetically to the women. "I'm so sorry." Naruto grudgingly quieted down. Iruka quickly purchased their things and hurried out of the store.

"Why'd you stop me, Sensei? I was right, wasn't I?" Naruto asked as they stepped out the automatic doors.

"You're too young to be lecturing others on what's right and what's wrong." Iruka stated crossly.

"What do you mean I'm too young?" Naruto asked.

"Excuse me." A vaguely familiar voice interrupted.

Iruka looked up, the karate instructor from before waved at him. "Oh, Hello." Iruka said standing. He hoped that Hatake-sensei didn't notice the blush he knew was warming his cheeks right then. Funny how every time he spoke to this man he blushed at some point. Iruka was not the type to blush often and he worried that the other man was getting the wrong impression of him.

"Umino-san, correct? We met at the KKK?" Hatake-sensei held his hand out to shake.

"Yes, Hatake-sensei, what a coincidence." Iruka answered taking the masked man's hand and shaking it. _'Of course I remember you, you aren't really easy to forget.' _Iruka thought.

"Sensei? This guy works with you, Iruka?" Naruto asked from Iruka's elbow.

Iruka looked down at him. "Um, no. Actually Naruto, this is your karate teacher, Hatake-sensei."

"Please call me Kakashi, it feels a little strange to be referred to so formally." Kakashi-sensei said holding his hands up with what Iruka guessed was a smile on his face.

"Then please call me Iruka." Iruka replied. _'Ah, finally got rid of that blush.'_

"I'm Naruto! You might as well give me my black belt now cuz I'm amazing!" Naruto stated with a grin.

"Is that so?" Kakashi-sensei asked with a smile. "Well then I look forward to having you in my class." Iruka smiled, happy that the masked man wasn't immediately put off by Naruto's straightforwardness. Even seasoned teachers had difficulties with him. Naruto grinned widely and scratched the back of his head.

"So you'll teach me ta be a ninja, right Kaka-sensei?" Naruto asked "Are you a ninja? The mask."

"Naruto, you're being too familiar and you really shouldn't ask things like that." Iruka stated scratching his scar in a nervous habit and giving the masked man a slightly apologetic smile.

"It's fine, Iruka-san." Kakashi hefted his bags a little higher on his arms.

"Oh, I'm sorry, you're probably in a hurry aren't you?" Iruka remarked, just noticing that the man had _'Holy hell.'_ about four bags full of groceries hanging from each arm. _'I guess karate must be a really good workout. He was standing so naturally I barely noticed.'_

"Um, do you want to share our cart?" Iruka asked tentatively.

"Oh." Kakashi sounded looking down as if he'd just noticed how much he was carrying. "No I'm fine, thank you." He replied with a smile.

"Alright then. Well we won't keep you." Iruka said. "See you on Tuesday, right Naruto?"

"Yeah! See you, Kakashi-sensei!"

They walked towards Iruka's car. Iruka took a moment to look behind him just in time to see Kakashi-sensei walking as easily as if he weren't carrying dozen's of pounds of groceries. _'Forget eccentric, is he even human?' _Iruka sighed. Shaking his head _'That wasn't very nice, Iruka.' _A small voice from the back of his head spoke. _'My bad.' _Iruka apologized to himself. _'I'm having a conversation with myself... Ugh...'_

"Iruka-sensei? You've gone all quiet. What's wrong? Are you mad at me?" Naruto's voice broke though Iruka's internal dialogue.

"Huh?" Then he remembered what Naruto had said. Frankly, he didn't have it in his heart to be angry with the little blonde anymore. Not that he was terribly angry to begin with, he was just a little embarrassed. "No. I know your heart was in the right place. But don't do it again."

"Why not?" The boy asked crossing his arms over his chest and frowned.

"Because people don't like it when a stranger points out that they're doing something wrong." Iruka said.

"But-"

"Naruto, you're a good person. But people don't see the good in you or in what you say when you make them angry."

"Why are they angry?" Naruto asked, his arms slackening around his chest and his eyes turning to look at the side of his former sensei's head.

Iruka sighed exasperatedly. "If I told you that you were bad, how would you feel?"

Naruto paused. "Well I guess I'd be sad."

"Sometimes when people feel hurt they respond with anger. You have to find a different way of making people understand what's good other than telling them that they're bad." Iruka explained. It was quiet in the car for a moment and after a moment Iruka sighed and said "Just think about it."

They arrived home and put the food away quickly. Naruto was quiet and it was worrying Iruka. "Naruto?" He asked after a moment. Naruto kept putting stuff away. "Naruto, I-"

"I got it!" Naruto shouted his eyes brightening and he whirled around to face Iruka who nearly dropped a head of lettuce at the sudden loud noise.

"What have you gotten, Naruto?" Iruka asked, scrambling to hold onto the leafy, round vegetable.

"I know how to make everyone see the good in me!" Naruto declared.

"Oh?" Iruka was surprised.

"What's the highest position in this village?"

"The mayor, I suppose. Why?" Iruka stated.

"Yeah! I'll become mayor so everyone has to see the good in me! So they'll see what being good's all about!" Naruto proclaimed. Iruka paused for a moment, completely taken aback. But then he smiled as a warm bubble of affection rose in his chest he stepped closer to Naruto.

"Then you better get good grades. I'll help you." Iruka said ruffling Naruto's hair causing the goggles to slide down over the boy's eyes.

"Ack! Iruka-sensei!" Naruto protested waving Iruka's hands away and readjusting the goggles on his head.

"Are we all done putting the groceries away?" Iruka asked standing and looking around the kitchen.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Alright, let's go get some ramen." He stated with a grin. Naruto followed him out the door with an even wider one to match.

There you have it, one and a half days in four chapters, holy crap. I decided AU or no, Naruto's not Naruto unless he has some seemingly impossible goal and an amazingly accurate moral compass. This one feels a bit shorter than usual. The next chapter will be longer, promise. Please review or my poor ego will starve.


	5. Chapter 5

I actually had no idea what I wanted the title to be for this story to be when I first began writing it, so I went with the first thing that popped into my head which, as is usual for me, was a semi-sarcastic comment. By the way, you might have been wondering what I was doing in the long gap of time between chapters three and four. Well let's say I was busy being a Microsoft Paint God (← that was sarcasm, folks). I'm drawing a KakaIru pic I may publish it someday soon as this story's official cover photo. But first I have to draw a version where they're wearing clothes ;) The other version may however end up on Y!Gallery where I have an account underneath the same name.

Anyways I'm done blathering on about my pointless achievements please enjoy the chapter.

* * *

Chapter 5: Gis and New Rivalries!

Four o'clock on a Tuesday afternoon a small blonde boy fidgeted in front of twelve other children close to his age. "Alright class, this is Naruto-kun, he'll be joining us from now o-" Kakashi began, standing beside his new student.

"Hi there! I'm Uzumaki Naruto and I'm the best!" The boy interrupted loudly.

"Naruto you liar, you can barely keep up with regular classes!" Kiba Inuzuka jeered from somewhere in the back. Some of the other kids snickered.

"I can too keep up!" Naruto hollered.

"Alright, let's all just try to get along." Kakashi ordered . "Everyone spread out."

He led the kids through their warm ups and was sure to keep an eye on the new boy. Once they were finished running their laps around the room Kakashi had them stand in rows two arms length away from each other. "We're going to do a little review before we move on to something new." He informed them.

A few of the children groaned. Kakashi decided to ignore them. "I've got my stance." He indicated the position of his feet briefly. Naruto copied him with a few looks in between Kakashi's and his own legs.

"Now the front kick. Keep your knees slightly bent. Shift your weight to your front leg. Raise the knee of your back leg in front of you and strike out quickly. Remember, you want to hit them with the ball of your foot, not your toes." He demonstrated the motions slowly. Then again in real time. Hinata in the front row let out a little gasp when the gust of air from the momentum of the kick ruffled her bangs.

"Alright everyone ready? Kick." He said kicking the air in front of him again.

"HYAH!" The class cried doing the same. He kept an eye on Naruto who, from the looks of it, was doing pretty well. _'Just one thing.' _Kakashi mused walking over to where Naruto stood. "When you're kicking, keep you arms up like this." He held his own forearms up so they closely guarded his sides. "Don't let them fall."

Naruto nodded.

"Alright. Again." He called to the rest of the class.

"And now our side kicks." Kakashi stated lifting his leg to the side and kicking out quickly.

"HYAH!" The kids shouted, copying him. The class went by mostly uneventfully until Naruto noticed a certain raven-haired classmate.

"You!" Naruto shouted, pointing at the other boy. Every eye in the room landed on him. "When did you get here?!" _'Oh, they know one another already?' _Kakashi wondered watching the interaction.

"I've been here the entire time, baka." Sasuke replied crossing his arms. _'A full sentence! Are they friends?' _Kakashi wondered.

"What'd you call me, teme?!" Naruto asked, raising his fist, primed to fight. _'Maybe not friends, then.'_ The masked man mused, a little disappointed. Sasuke seemed to be ignoring the other boy now. "Well, it doesn't matter. Cuz this is just another chance for me to kick your butt!"

"That's great that you're so determined, Naruto-kun, but if we could get back to class." Kakashi said from beside him.

"Wah!" Naruto-kun cried. He must have not noticed Kakashi walking over to them. "Don't sneak up on me like that, Sensei!" Sasuke, apparently used to it, grunted and turned away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Kakashi apologized. "Sasuke, if you wouldn't mind going over there." The sullen boy rolled his eyes and obeyed Kakashi' request.

"I'm so sorry." Iruka-san whispered. The sound of Sasuke and Naruto-kun bickering a little ways down the hallway made a nice cover for discreet conversation.

"Don't worry about it." The silver-haired man reassured.

"Are you sure? I had no idea that Sasuke-kun was your son."

"You two have met before?" Kakashi asked, surprised.

"Actually no, but I have heard quite a bit about him from Naruto." Iruka-san stated leaning on one slim hip and crossing his arms over his chest. "They're in the same class."

"Really?" _'Not that Sasuke is really the type to talk about his day but you'd think a kid like this would at least be mentioned.'_ He thought eying the loud little boy a few feet away. "From what I saw earlier I am guessing what you've heard is not all good?" Kakashi chuckled awkwardly and scratched the back of his head.

The pony-tailed man smiled abashedly. "Ummm... Eheh."

"Sorry, I shouldn't pry." The karate instructor stated. "Anyways what do you think? He seemed to have enjoyed the class."

"I agree." Iruka-san stated with a renewed smile. "I'm kind of hoping that he'll expend some of his energy here."

Kakashi nodded. "We tend to work them harder as the class progresses. So most likely we'll tire him out."

"Good." Iruka-san sighed with relief. "My work has gotten a little hectic lately so I don't have much time or energy to spend having fun with him anymore, unfortunately."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that—" There was a tug on his sleeve

"Kakashi, I want to go." Sasuke stated, looking more irritated than usual. Kakashi missed Iruka-san's raised eyebrows while he turned his attention to the boy.

"Hm?" Kakashi sounded then looked up at the clock. "Itachi will be out in about five minutes we'll leave then." Sasuke scowled.

"Weasel?" Naruto asked.

"Shut up, Usuratonkachi." Sasuke gritted out.

"Don't call me that!" Naruto-kun yelled.

"Naruto quiet down." Iruka-san scolded.

"Sorry Iruka-sensei." Naruto grumbled. _'Sensei?'_ Kakashi wondered.

Iruka-san shook his head and took hold of Naruto-kun's shoulder so the boy leaned against his hip. "Try not to cause Kakashi-sensei too much trouble in the future, alright Naruto?"

"Alright." Naruto agreed, albeit grudgingly.

"And Sasuke-kun." Iruka-san extended.

"Wha- But Iruka-sensei he started it!"

"Well you shouldn't have kept it going then." The brunet chastised. Naruto-kun made an irritated little noise in his throat and folded his arms over his chest, directing a glare in Sasuke's direction.

"Fine, I will if he will." The blonde grumbled.

"Sasuke?" Kakashi prodded, setting a hand on his ward's shoulder after a moment of the boys glaring at one another.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted turning his head away.

"Well, I guess that's all we can really ask for." Kakashi sighed and planted his hands in his pockets. "So Naruto-kun, what do you say? Want to stay in the class?" He asked.

"Hell yeah!"

"Language." Iruka chided.

"Oh, right, sorry. Yeah I do!" Naruto-kun corrected. "Huh?" He sounded after a moment looking somewhere behind Kakashi.

"Hello." A familiar, monotone, voice greeted from behind the masked man. _'Oh, it's been five minutes already?' _Kakashi wondered, turning to look at the older Uchiha brother questioningly. "Asuma sensei let us out a little early today." He answered.

"Ah, he has a date with Kurenai-san today does he?" Kakashi asked. Itachi shrugged. "Well anyways Itachi, this is my new student Naruto-kun and his father Iruka-san."

"It is nice to met you." Itachi greeted. _'My, he does have some manners after all.' _Kakashi mused.

"And you." Iruka-san replied cheerfully. _'You're adorable.' _Kakashi thought watching the other man. _'Wait, did I just say adorable? No I thought it, well at least there's that.' _

"Hey!" Naruto-kun grinned widely sticking his hand out to shake. Itachi was taken aback a little but took the boy's hand and shook it nonetheless.

"Pleasure to meet you." Itachi answered.

"Let's go already." Sasuke muttered impatiently. Itachi shot his brother a pointed look and turned back to the blonde boy and his _'Father? He keeps calling him 'sensei.''_

"I hope you enjoy the classes. Kakashi can be a little tough on his students but it's worth it in the end." Itachi stated. "He is a good teacher if you're willing to work hard."

"Maa Itachi, you're going to make me blush." The masked man scratched the back of his head and smiled beneath his mask. _'That has to be the nicest thing he's said about me in a while.'_

"Hard working's my middle name!" Naruto-kun cried.

"You're so loud." Sasuke grumbled.

"Well I'm very glad to hear that, Naruto-kun." Kakashi stated.

The sound of gurgling filled the air. "Oh um, excuse me." Iruka-san stated blushing again. Kakashi was really wondering if it was safe for someone to be blushing so often.

"Please, don't let us keep you, have a good night." Kakashi chuckled.

"Thank you, you too." Iruka-san thanked, turning away with his son by his side.

Kakashi pulled out of the KKK's parking lot and onto the road. "He seems nice." Itachi stated after a moment.

"Who?" Kakashi asked distractedly.

"Iruka-san."

"Yes, yes he does." 'Something tells me that's a gross understatement.' Kakashi mused his mind zeroing in on his conversation with the scarred man. They were quiet for a moment. "I'm doing laundry tonight so don't forget to throw stuff down the shute."

Both boys grunted their acknowledgment and stared out the adjacent windows. Kakashi drove on. Small lights popped in his field of vision for a moment. He ignored it and focused on the road which moments later became obscured by large black spots. He grunted as a slow pain began to swell in the center of his head, becoming gradually more painful until the ringing in his ears was so much he clapped a hand to them with a soft grunt of pain.

"Kakashi?" Itachi's voice sounded from what seemed like miles away.

Kakashi felt the car swerve and he focused on keeping the wheel steady.

"Kakashi? Are you alright?!" Itachi's voice held a note of urgency to it.

"Yeah... um... Damn it" The silver-haired man panted. The pain piqued and more bright spots appeared in his vision. He pulled the car over quickly. Ignoring Sasuke's frantic questions asking what was wrong, he nearly fell out of the car door and stumbled out of the boy's sight and into the bushes where he proceeded to vomit. After a few moments when he felt a little better he stood up straight again and readjusted his mask. His vision was doubled slightly but he knew it would be back to normal in a half an hour or so. _'Damnit. It's never been this bad when I was on the road before.'_

"You told me you were getting better." A familiar voice stated, a trace of an accusatory tone to it.

"The episodes are coming less often. I'll be fine Itachi." Kakashi said, already heading back to the car. As he passed Itachi a hand shot out and grabbed hold of his shoulder.

"Have you even gone to a doctor?" His ward asked.

"Itachi, I know what's causing it and any normal doctor wouldn't be able to help me. I just have to tough it out." Kakashi said, slightly alarmed by the intensity of Itachi's gaze.

"Kakashi, you have to be honest with us." Itachi declared. "Sasuke won't be able to deal with the shock of losing anyone else he loves. The least you could do is prepare us for it." Itachi glares into Kakashi's eye. After a moment the older man sighs.

"Like I've said before, Itachi. I can't tell you everything but what I have isn't completely fatal." _'I'll just go blind if I'm not unlucky.' _His mind supplied unhelpfully.

Itachi's eyes widened a fraction. "I knew it." He breathed. "What are we supposed to do if you do die?"

"Maa Itachi, I'm not going to die. It'll pass. I know what I'm dealing with here. Trust me." Kakashi said. Itachi sent him a look that told him the teen didn't completely believe him.

"Here, do you mind driving us the rest of the way?" Kakashi asked dropping the keys into the teen's palm, trying his best not to allow his hands to shake too much as he did so.

"Fine, but you're going to deal with Sasuke. He's very upset." Itachi commanded.

"Sounds fair." Kakashi stated jogging up the slight incline to the side of the road. He slumped himself in the passenger seat and smiled back at a very pale-looking Sasuke. "Are you alright, Sasuke?" He asked. The kid looked like he was about to faint.

"Me?! What about you?!" Sasuke demanded angrily.

"I'll be fine, just some food poisoning. I think." Kakashi noted the way Itachi's grip on the steering wheel tightened and the line of the older boy's lips thinned. Sasuke didn't look convinced.

"You're lying." He stated his voice low and furious.

"Sometimes I really wish you boys weren't so perceptive, you know that?" Kakashi muttered turning to face the front of the car. He heard the clatter of a seat belt being undone. "Sasuke?" He asked in a warning tone. He felt the boy's presence next to him. "You should really sit properly."

"What's wrong with you?"

"Well that's rather rude."

"Tell me!" Sasuke bellowed loudly so the air in the car seemed to ring with the memory of his voice.

"I can't Sasuke." Kakashi said in a sharp tone that silenced the boy. "But what I can tell you is I will be perfectly fine, okay?" He added in a kinder tone. He turned in his seat again and found Sasuke leaning over the front console his brow furrowed and his eyes wide. "Don't look at me like that." Kakashi stated pressing his thumb in between the dark eyebrows pushing the wrinkle of worry flat. "I promise. I'm fine. Just a little under the weather."

"I'll do the laundry tonight." Itachi said abruptly.

"Thank you. But you don-"

"Throw your clothes down the shute when we get home." Itachi ordered. Kakashi sighed and complied.

"Sasuke."

"Hm?"

"Get back in your seat and buckle your seatbelt." Kakashi commanded softly. After a moments hesitation Sasuke reluctantly obeyed. The pale man sighed, relaxing into the stiff material of the passenger seat and watched the blurred scenery flicker by as they drove back to their home.

* * *

I'm still trying to figure out the Hatake-Uchiha family dynamic if you haven't guessed that already. I noticed that there was a substantial lack of warmth and while I don't want Kakashi to turn into Mr. Snuggles and Rainbows I still want him to have a somewhat fatherly (or even older brother) sort of relationship with the boys. Also I did my best with Sasuke, even though he's sort of OoC in this last bit. Please tell me how I did. You also may be wondering "Where the fuck did that last part come from?" My brain people, it came from my brain but don't worry, it's going somewhere.

By the way, the first signs of attraction have already occurred but the first signs of romance commence in the next chapter. Stay tuned.

Oh my, it's three in the morning. Sleep? what is sleep? Writers don't need sleep! What idiot told you that!? HAHAHAHAHAHAAAA! *thud


	6. Chapter 6

Hello. From the lack of reviews on the last chapter, I'm going to presume I didn't do anything to your loathing. I'm just gonna keep doing my thang.

* * *

Chapter 6: Weirdness and Annoying Masks

"Why does Sasuke-bastard have to be in my class?!" Naruto's voice demanded from the back seat of Iruka's silver sedan. (The little knucklehead was too small to safely ride in the front)

"Language, Naruto." Iruka scolded half-heartedly. Naruto rambled on.

_'I didn't get anything done in the past hour.'_ Iruka sighed internally. He had been too occupied watching Naruto and Kakashi-sensei to work on any of the paperwork he had brought along. It was oddly nice to watch the silver-haired man interact with Naruto. Attentive, yet professional. Polite yet personable.

He moved with a strange sort of relaxed grace. His manner of speaking was the same. The way he executed the karate moves too was practiced and efficient. Believe it or not Iruka had taken some self defense classes before he had gone off to college and he didn't remember any instructor quite as adept as Kakashi-sensei. It was fascinating to watch him. He wondered again if the man was really human. He just seemed too... _'What's the word?'_

"Iruka-sensei? You alright?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Iruka answered.

"You've been acting weird."

"I'm fine, Naruto."

"Hey, Kaka-sensei seems pretty cool, huh?" Naruto stated excitedly. _'Huh, I couldn't have said it any better myself.'_ Iruka mused. "You're right." He stated out loud.

"I can't wait until Thursday!" Naruto grinned. Iruka found himself sincerely agreeing with Naruto. Not only was it wonderful to see the little blonde so excited about something, but it really seemed like karate was something the boy could wrap his head around and eventually become really good at. Hopefully Kakashi-sensei would be as good of a teacher as his older son had said he was. Although now that he'd seen him in action, Iruka didn't really doubt Kakashi-sensei's abilities in the first place.

Speaking of Itachi-kun _'Could that boy really be Kakashi-sensei's child?'_ Iruka wondered. With Sasuke-kun he could see it as possible but the masked man didn't really seem old enough to have a kid that was Itachi's age. Granted, Iruka had no idea what the karate instructor actually looked like so that mask could easily be covering up Kakashi-sensei's age. But the wrinkles beside the man's eye weren't deep enough for him to be too old. _'Perhaps you're paying a bit too much attention to his face Iruka.'_ A small niggling voice in the back of his mind suggested. _'What are you thinking? It's just simple curiosity.'_ But for some reason Kakashi-sensei's mask really bothered him at the moment. _'You don't know him well enough yet to have any right to be bothered by something like that.'_ he paused _'Wait, "yet?"'_ Iruka wondered. _'Well I guess it would make sense to get to know him, he is teaching Naruto.'_ He smiled a little wryly to himself. _'It's not like you have a whole lot of adult friends anyways. Might as well, right?' _

"You're acting weird again!" Naruto's rough voice was like a freight train blaring through Iruka's reverie.

"Oh, sorry Naruto."

"Did Kaka-sensei say something weird to you?" Naruto asked.

"No, why do you ask that?"

"When you were talking with him you blushed a lot and made strange faces. It was weird." Naruto's eyes narrowed at Iruka with apparent suspicion.

"Wha-?" Iruka asked. _'So Naruto, even in all of his obliviousness noticed. That means Kakashi-sensei definitely had to have noticed too. Fantastic.' _He thought dryly, now that he'd spoken to Kakashi-sensei a little more he didn't want the man to think about him in a poor light.

"Yeah, like that!" Naruto exclaimed pointing at Iruka's embarrassed grimace and slightly pink cheeks.

"It's rude to point, Naruto." Iruka stated hoping not to have to have this conversation. Ever since he had adopted Naruto he had stopped dating altogether. He hadn't shared his sexuality with the little blonde simply because he'd never seen the need to._ 'And maybe I'm just a tiny bit nervous about his reaction.'_ He wasn't about to potentially make things awkward in their little family over a new piece of eye candy. _'Thank goodness he's so dense.' _"Anyways, _Kakashi_-sensei didn't say anything and my face is not weird."

"But-" Naruto started.

"I heard you got a D on that math test today, By the way." _'Take the bait. Take the bait Takeittakeittakeit!'_

"Wha!?- That's not my fault! Ebisu-sensei hates me!" Naruto whined. _'Crisis averted'_

They drove back home with no more mentions of blushing, weird faces or cool, eye-patched karate instructors.

* * *

"Naru-uah-to." The pony-tailed man called through a yawn, knocking on the boy's bedroom door the next morning. There was no answer from inside. "You're going to be late." Iruka tsked, tucking the towel wrapped around his waist a little tighter and walked on to his bedroom in search of clothes.

Ten minutes later Iruka was back at the door fastening the last of his shirt buttons. "Naruto!" He knocked again. Rolling his eyes he opened the door and stepped inside. The small blonde boy lay sprawled over his bed. With an exasperated sigh, Iruka went to Naruto's side and shook him by the shoulder.

"Iruka-sensei... What?" Naruto mumbled.

"We have to leave in twenty minutes Naruto." Iruka informed him. _'Three, two, one.'_ Iruka counted down as the sleepy blue eyes showed the first signs of comprehension.

"Gah!" Naruto cried springing out of bed and running for the door.

"That's more like it." Iruka stated, smirking with his hands on his hips. Naruto was a little blonde blur zooming at top speed around the apartment. Iruka snickered, popping bread into the toaster and setting two pre-made lunches next to his work bag.

"I'm ready! I'm ready!" Naruto hollered pulling on his backpack as he ran into the kitchen.

Iruka chuckled and handed the boy two slices of toast and an orange. "We can eat in the car."

"'Kay." Naruto said picking up his lunchbox and heading towards the front door with the two pieces of toast held between his teeth. Iruka adjusted his tie and pulled the strap of his bag over his shoulder before following Naruto out of the apartment.

"You have your lunch?" Iruka asked

"Uh-huh."

"And your homework?"

"Yeah."

"You checked?"

"Yep."

"Okay, don't give Sachiko-san too much trouble today, alright?"

"Alright." Naruto agreed. Iruka turned and headed for his classroom on the other end of the hallway.

"Why are we here so early, Kakashi?" Someone asked. _'Kakashi?Kakashi-sensei?'_ Iruka wondered, looking around for the source of the vaguely familiar voice.

"We're giving Itachi's annoying friend a ride." Another familiar voice stated dryly.

"What is that tone for, Kakashi?" A third asked. Iruka turned a corner and discovered three males. _'Did Konoha suddenly get smaller? I'm beginning to see this man everywhere.' _Iruka wondered.

"Iruka-san? What are you doing here?" The masked man himself asked when he noticed Iuka's presence.

"Hello Kakashi-sensei, Itachi-kun, Sasuke-kun. I work here actually." He informed.

"He teaches the second graders I think." Sasuke murmured.

"Really?" Kakashi-sensei asked, his visible eyebrow raising in slight surprise. "Well then I guess I should be calling you 'sensei' as well." Kakashi stated with a smile in his eye. For some unknown reason Iruka felt a pleasant little sensation in his stomach at Kakashi-sensei's words.

"That's not necessary I'm fine being addressed as 'Iruka-san'" He reassured. The pony-tailed man just realized what Kakashi-sensei was wearing. A dark grey button up shirt, black slacks, black leather shoes and belt and a steel-colored tie that nearly matched his hair which was as untamed as ever. Iruka felt that the man wore the ensemble remarkably well. He felt that strange sensation in the pit of his stomach again.

"Whatever, Maybe he can tell us where the before school place is." Sasuke suggested.

"Oh, you're looking for Sachiko-san's room? It's number 8b on the mid level." He pointed in the direction he had come from. "Down this hall and up the stairs in the little hallway that branches off from the stairwell between the first and second floor. It'll be on your right."

"Thank you." Kakashi stated cheerfully. Iruka smiled back. He noticed that Itachi-kun was giving his father a bit of an odd look.

"I'm happy to help." Iruka turned to leave in the direction of his classroom.

"Iruka-sensei." Itachi called.

"Hm?" Iruka hummed in question turning back.

"Sorry but could you take us there. None of us are terribly good with directions." Itachi requested. Iruka noted the raised eyebrow Kakashi-sensei directed at his older son.

"Oh, um, of course." Iruka was a little confused.

"Thank you, we appreciate it."

Iruka made the motion for them to follow and began to walk in the direction of room 8b. Kakashi-sensei fell into step beside him.

"So Iruka-sensei, about Naruto-kun." Kakashi-sensei began.

"Yes?"

"It's not urgent, but in another week or so I'll begin setting the kids up in sparring matches. Naruto-kun will need gear."

"Is that so?" Iruka remarked. Turning his attention to the slightly taller man.

"Yes. We let some of the kids borrow sparring gear who don't have any but Naruto-kun will definitely need a mouth guard, which we do sell, by the way."

"Do you sell the sparring gear as well?" Iruka asked curiously.

"We can order it for you. The cost is added on to the lesson fee." Kakashi-sensei informed.

"What's the price?"

"35 ryou."

"Oh we can handle that. I'll just buy a set for him then." Iruka stated.

"Great." Kakashi-sensei smiled. "Do you help out with the before school care?" The masked man asked a few moments later.

"Sometimes. The staff take it in week-long shifts." Iruka answered

"I see. Please take care of Sasuke." Kakashi-sensei requested with what Iruka assumed was a polite smile. _'Mask. Mask!' _The brunet man again felt a twinge of annoyance at the fabric covering the karate instructors face.

Iruka smiled. "Of course." He replied.

Kakashi thanked him and they walked on chatting about inane things like the weather and children's habits.

They arrived in front of 8b. Sasuke-kun stopped in the doorway to the room occupied by a few other children. He looked back at Kakashi-sensei with an odd, almost worried look in his large, dark eyes."Go on, Sasuke." His father prompted.

A few seconds later the boy turned and entered the classroom. Iruka, who had watched the scene from the sidelines, brushed off the unusual interaction with _'Maybe Sasuke-kun's just shy, or something.'_

"Now you're coming here too Sasuke-bastard!?" A very familiar voice rang loudly through the door. Kakashi-sensei and Itachi-kun looked a little startled and both men looked in the direction of the doorway.

Iruka popped his head into the room and cried "Language Naruto, and be nice!"

"Iruka-sensei!? But you're supposed to be over in your room!" Naruto cried.

"You should know by now that I can be anywhere and everywhere I want to be." Iruka stated.

"L-liar!" Naruto declared but he looked a little paler.

Iruka stepped back into the hallway with a bit of a smirk on his lips. He noticed Kakashi-sensei and Itachi-kun watching him curiously. He shot them a smile and turned in the direction of his classroom again. The two other men walked beside him. "Itachi-kun, do you train with Kakashi-sensei as well?" Iruka asked, looking at the teenager on the other side of the masked man.

"I did when I was younger, Asuma-sensei teaches the older teenagers." Itachi-kun stated.

"I see, what belt are you?"

"First degree black-belt. However, I'll be a second degree in a week, granted that I can pass the test."

"Maa, Itachi, you give yourself too little credit. You'll do well." Kakashi-sensei stated.

"I'm trying to not approach it too lightly."

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Itachi-kun. Good luck anyways though." Iruka pulled his bag a little more securely onto his shoulder as the two other men split off and headed for the exit. "Have a good day, Itachi-kun, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka stated (a little too sincerely).

The karate instructor waved as he stepped towards the door. "You too, Iruka-sensei." The pony-tailed man waved him good bye watched him leave. When Iruka realized he'd been staring for a bit too long he tore his attention away from the masked man's retreating back and hurried along his original course to the classroom.

Iruka unlocked the door and hurried inside. _'Twenty minutes until the bell rings'_ He thought, bringing out colored construction paper, and a box of markers, crayons, and colored pencils from one of the craft supplies cabinets. He set them neatly along the outer side of his desk humming softly. Today the kids were going to be assigned to chart the growth of potted sunflowers. Full-size sunflowers would have been too large so he'd picked out a smaller, more manageably sized breed. He pulled a bag of seeds from his satchel and poured it into one of those little styrofoam cups the kids used for field-trip lunches. The potting soil had been left behind the school and the little clay pots were stored away in one of the larger cupboards. Wiping his brow he looked over his notes for the day and concluded that everything that needed to be set up was in it's proper place, just five minutes before the first classes started. _'Today will be a good day.' _He mused cheerfully.

* * *

So yeah, Iruka's crush on Kakashi has begun to show its pretty little head (and when you think about it, rather quickly too, they've only known one another for a few days.) To everyone who's been reviewing, thank you so much, you guys are amazing, keep it up! Oh and please continue reading, it's taken a while to get off the ground but the Kakashi/Iruka relationship will pick up speed quickly.

Today was one of the awesome, rare ones where I got to spend all my time lazing around and watching Naruto, I rewatched the Naruto vs, Pein episodes. My eyes are still puffy from how often I cried during that arc. Eheh, social life? What's that? Never heard of it.


	7. Chapter 7

I want to do a chapter on Itachi and Yahiko. So yeah, I'm going to do that now. Enjoy. By the way, this chapter Has little to do with the main plot so if you skip it you won't miss anything vital in the Kakairu fic.

Warning: This is LONG. I didn't know that I wanted to write about Itachi's love life so much. Perhaps more Itachi chapters will pop up every once in a while in the future. Or maybe I'll even write a separate YahikoItachi fic parallel to this one. We'll see, I guess.

Just a key for you guys:

_'Italics and apostrophe means thoughts.'_

_Italics without apostrophes means writing._

'Apostrophe without Italics means sound effects.'

* * *

Chapter 7: Goth Drag Queens and Piercings

"Iruka-sensei's very nice." Itachi spoke as the masked man drove out of the elementary school parking lot.

"... He is." Kakashi answered lightly. His tone was soft, almost bright. Itachi hadn't heard anything like it before. The silver-haired man's exposed eye betrayed nothing but the older Uchiha knew what he had heard. They drove on without another word.

"You're late. Hn." The pony-tailed blonde griped sliding into the back seat of the car.

"You certainly could have asked us to pick you up earlier ahead of time, Deidara." Itachi retorted calmly from the front passenger seat.

"Uppity as always, _Itachi_. Hn" The blonde narrowed his heavily made up eyes and crossed his arms.

Kakashi quietly continued to drive but wondered briefly if the two were really friends. There certainly seemed to be a large amount of animosity between them.

"You're wearing more make-up than usual, I see." Itachi pointed out a moment later.

"You judging me for the way I dress Tall, Dark and Boring? Hn." Deidara snapped back.

"To the contrary, I was simply wondering what the occasion was." Itachi replied pulling his bag onto his lap and looking through the contents.

"I was thinking we'd go to the mall after school today. Hn." The blonde stated.

Itachi tensed up for a moment. He forced himself to relax. "Why?"

"Does there hafta be a reason? I want to go shopping. Now are you coming with me or not? Hn." Itachi could feel the half-obscured glare on the back of his head.

"Fine." Itachi agreed after a moment.

"It's a week night. Be back before nine, alright Itachi?" Kakashi interjected.

"It's alright, we won't be out long. All the places I want to go close at nine anyways. Hn." Deidara replied casually waving his hand in the man's direction.

"You have bus fare?" Kakashi addressed his ward.

"I wish _my_ dad would give _me_ money. Hn." Deidara stated.

"Yes." Itachi answered ignoring his friend.

"Alright." Kakashi hummed. They pulled up in front of the high school moments before the bell rang. Itachi and Deidara climbed out of the car and headed for the front doors.

"I'll meet you in the courtyard at lunch. Hn" The ponytailed blonde stated .

Itachi nodded and kept walking in the direction of his first class.

"Tch, stuck up bastard. Hn." He heard Deidara mutter. The dark-haired teen continued on to his history lesson.

Itachi absently took down notes of the dates and times multitudes of deceased men and women killed, conquered, and slept with one another. He didn't mind history as a subject but being told basically the same handful of stories over and over just with different people and gradually improving technology grew tedious after a while. It didn't help that his teacher had a voice that matched the exact pitch and consistency of the drone of an air conditioner. He allowed his mind to wander after a while. His grades were, of course, excellent in this class, so why not?

He twiddled his pencil between his fingers and his eyes glazed over, to anyone else it would look like he was simply checking over his notes. Images of piercings, wild orange hair, and a small, handsome smirk filled his mind rather than dates and treaties between warring nations. The corners of his lips twitched upwards. The ministrations of his hand holding the pencil began to quicken. The bright tenor voice forming itself into friendly words. The practiced, deliberate movements of the pale hands...

Something light hit his upper arm and fluttered down to land beside his left foot, disrupting his rather pleasant daydream. Bending forward over his notes he looked over the edge of his desk discreetly. A folded piece of paper. He wondered if, perhaps, that it would be best to pretend he hadn't noticed it.

Sighing he decided to do the right thing and bent over in his seat to pick it up when the teacher had his back turned.

_Please meet me by the oak in front of the school at lunchtime today._

Below the words there was a neatly drawn heart where a signature would usually be. Letting out a barely audible breath he folded it up again and put it into his pants pocket before returning to his note taking.

An hour or so later Itachi's pre-calculus class was interrupted by a loud 'BANG!' from overhead that shook the walls and made a few of the other students to cry out. A few flakes of plaster from the ceiling rained down onto the Uchiha's head and desk. _'Deidara. They'll never let you into another chemistry class in your life if you keep this up.'_ Itachi surmised, pulling his hair tie out and brushing the debris from his licorice-colored locks, unknowingly drawing a few gazes from the room's female population in doing so.

When lunch came around Itachi met Deidara in the courtyard. The blonde stunk of sulfur and singed fabric with smudges of soot here and there on his face, arms, and hair. "Onoki-sensei is going to kill you one of these days if you don't blow yourself up first."

"That old man's got one foot in the grave, he'd probably break his back just trying to run after me. Hn." He said smugly. "I just mixed a hint of copper into it so it turned green this time. It was gorgeous! Hn."

Itachi restrained himself from rolling his eyes at the blonde's antics and said "I have to go meet with someone but I'll be back within the hour."

"What the hell's so important that you're gonna ditch me, hn?" Deidara asked, scowling.

"I'm not 'ditching' you. Besides, I see Hoshigaki-senpai, Zetsu-senpai, Akasuna-senpai and Hidan-kun over there, go talk to them if you don't want to wait on your own." Itachi suggested.

For once Deidara hesitated, eying the group of boys from a distance. Turning away. "I don't really want to. Anyways what are you running off for? hn." The obnoxious teen caught sight of something near Itachi's hip and grabbed for it. He side stepped his friends lunge and grasped his wrist.

"Cmon! I just wanna look at it, hn." Deidara whined.

"No."

"Who's it from, hn?" He wrenched his wrist back from Itachi's grip.

"...I don't know. They didn't sign it."

"So you're going to go meet them somewhere? hn."

"Yes."

"You should let me come! hn." Deidara stated with renewed excitement.

"Why would you want to?"

"Oh, it's always entertaining to see someone being rejected, hn." The glee in his voice was obvious.

Itachi looked at his friend for a moment. "Why do people like you again?"

"'Cause I'm hot."

Itachi looked at the blonde boy long and hard before he turned away. "I still don't understand..." He stated under his breath as he left. Deidara was probably Itachi's best friend, merely because no one better was around who fit the bill. Certainly there were plenty of decent people willing to be friends as well as more than that but Itachi had little interest in having a large group of people to spend his time with. Since Deidara didn't really have any other friends than the Darker teen himself, Itachi had agreed to be his friend. The blonde had gotten the title merely because he refused to hear the word no and it was convenient for the both of them. The blonde got to drag Itachi to random places and Deidara acted as a repellant to a great deal of Itachi's admirers. It had substantially lowered the Uchiha's social status to frequently associate with the resident tranny of Konoha High.

To Itachi's knowledge, Deidara had never once worn a skirt or a stuffed bra, but since the other teen looked so effeminate wearing his hair long, dark eye make-up and black nail polish a lot of people had assumed things and taken to calling him that. Not to his face of course. The last person who had had found himself with a black eye and multiple burn wounds.

"I can still hear you! hn." The blonde called loudly and irritably.

Deidara could, at times, be nice in his own way. Don't ask Itachi how. When explained with words, the things the blonde had done or said wouldn't sound terribly kind. But in their original context they were, in a way, well intended.

Itachi spotted a young woman standing beneath the oak tree from the front walkway. She hadn't noticed him yet. Her stance was stalk straight her hair was long, brown and wavy. The bangs were cut neatly to end at the bridge of her delicate nose. Her complexion was slightly rosy and her build was short, slim and as delicate as the features of her face. Her eyes burned with a sort of determination though, that contradicted with her overall appearance.

Itachi walked over "Hello." He greeted.

"Oh, Uchiha-kun. Hello." She said a little louder than necessary, turning to look at him through large hazel eyes.

"Is this your note?" Itachi asked, taking the slip of paper from his pocket and held it out for her to see.

"Um... Yes it is..." She stated hesitantly, her cheeks tinted with color.

"You wanted to talk to me then?" Itachi prompted a moment later when she showed no sign of saying anything more.

"Yes I was... I was..." Her small hands twisted the hem of her skirt. Her dark lashes were long, too long for his taste. But then again, most of her body wasn't terribly interesting to him. Her shapely breasts, her wide hips, her skin looked too soft, her jaw too narrow, her lips too red, her hands too dainty. She was beautiful, yes, but not attractive. _'Is it too late to hope that she's here for something else?'_

"My aim is terrible actually." She let out a soft chuckle. Itachi watched her. "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding Uchiha-kun, but I was aiming for Rokushou-kun" Itachi let out a mental sigh of relief. _'Apparently it isn't.'_

"Rokushou-kun?" _'Rokushou-kun sits five seats behind me...'_

"Yes." She answered.

"It's not a problem." Itachi stated. "Good luck." He turned to leave.

"Um! Uchiha-kun?" She called out.

"Yes?"

"I know you don't owe me any favors but could you... Could you keep this secret, at least until I regain the courage to try to speak to him again?"

"I understand. I won't tell another soul." Itachi stated turning to leave again.

"Thank you." She called.

* * *

"So what happened? Break another heart? Hn." Deidara asked. Itachi ignored him.

After a while of interrogation with nothing to show for it Deidara folded his arms and sulked. "Why am I even you're friend? You're no fun, hn." Itachi had many answers to that question, but for the sake of being polite decided not to put any of them into words. He continued eating his sandwich in silence.

"Hey, you thinking you might go see that cute orange haired guy this afternoon? Hn." Deidara asked out of the blue. The jet-eyed teen's grip on the sandwich tightened and the cheese fell out and landed with a soft splat onto his lap. Itachi's best friend snorted. "Maybe not. I know I wouldn't want to go see my crush with mayo stains on my crotch, hn." He snickered watching Itachi wipe at his upper thigh with a paper napkin.

"You're right, you prefer to go the extra mile and talk to him when you stink like rotten eggs and burning hair." Itachi retorted. He could feel narrowed blue eyes on the side of his head.

"Whatever, hn." Deidara swept his long bangs behind his ear. "I'll take a shower after gym class and it'll be fine, hn."

"Oh right, I forgot, Akasuna-senpai works at that toy store in the mall now, doesn't he?" Itachi said.

"Sh-Shut up, hn!" Itachi knew he had won and basked silently in his small victory.

* * *

The final bell rang and wave after wave of adolescents poured from the doors of the school. Itachi waited for Deidara seating himself on a large planter filled with half-dead giant blue switchgrass, cone flowers, and black-eyed susans. _'These are wild plants... How did they kill these?'_

"Uchiha-kun?" A voice asked his attention, he turned to look at the speaker.

"Yes, Rokushou-kun?" Itachi asked. _'Coincidence or...?'_

"Um, I noticed that you and Tsukino-san were speaking during lunch. Could I ask what you talked about?" The other boy asked, a hint of urgency in his tone. _'Tsukino... That girl?'_

"I'm afraid I've been asked not to tell." Itachi answered. A flicker of anger passed through Rokushou-kun's face "Perhaps you should ask her herself, I'm sure she'll have no problem answering." Itachi mentioned further. The anger melted into surprise, then anxiety.

"Uchiha! Where have you been? Hn." Deidara-kun growled from a distance away. Itachi turned his attention to his blonde friend who was coming straight towards him. "C'mon we'll be late for the bus. Hn" Deidara commanded, passing Itachi by so he got a whiff of fruity smelling shampoo that made his nose wrinkle in slight disgust. Itachi nodded a silent goodbye to Rokushou-kun and followed the other, no longer pony-tailed, teenager.

"The fucking hairdryer in the locker rooms was busted. How long is it gonna be before they fix that? hn." Deidara grumbled, brushing his damp hair in the bus seat beside Itachi's. Itachi pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and began wiping dry the areas on his arm Deidara had dripped on. Whether purposely or not Deidara whipped his hair over his shoulder hard enough to sting the skin of Itachi's face when it made contact.

"Puh." He exhaled softly and pulled a loose, honey-colored strand from his mouth. He discarded it distastefully in the gap of space between the seat and the window.

"All they had was this girly smelling shampoo too. I smell like the fruit salad from hell! hn" Deidara continued to complain.

"Well if it's any consolation, you still smell faintly of sulfur."

"Shut up, hn." Deidara scowled. "And to top it all off I left my eye-liner at home today, hn!" He said, touching the corner of his eye. His thick amber colored eyelashes looked alien but not wholly unpleasant without their usual four layers of mascara.

"Are you going to blame the school for that too?" Itachi asked dabbing the moisture left from Deidara's hair off of his face.

"How about some sympathy here? Kami-sama, you're a horrible friend. hn"

"I believe the phrase is 'You have to be a good friend to have good friends.'"

"Che!" Deidara eyed his nails. "Chipped. hn." He scowled down at it. "Hey, when are you gonna let me do your nails? hn." He asked looking over at Itachi's clean, neatly maintained cuticles.

"Never."

"I think you'd look good with a bit of work, hn."

"Are you saying I look bad now?"

"Not bad, boring, hn."

"Boring?"

"What about a piercing? hn."

"No"

"Even a belly button piercing? No one would see it unless you wanted them to, hn."

"No."

"But you like that guy with all of those barbells in his face, hn."

"...They look good on him. I don't want any for myself."

"Boring inside and out, hn." Deidara concluded with a disappointed huff. "Not even in your ear? I bet you'd look good with just a little hoop, hn."

Itachi fingered his earlobe thoughtfully. "I'll... consider it." He answered, trying to imagine what he'd look like.

They arrived at the stop closest to the mall and walked inside. They took the time to revel in the cool blast the industrial-sized air conditioners provided as the doors closed behind them. They both got in line for a sandwich at one of the food court restaurants and ate quickly. Itachi looked around and recognized a few other teens from their school but none he actually knew well enough to talk to.

"Hey, we should stop in here, hn." Deidara remarked. Itachi eyed the front of the store. _'Of course.' _He mused. The windows displayed a colorful sundry of toys and children's clothing. Itachi followed the obnoxious teen inside. The girl at the counter eyed the two warily as they wandered up and down the isles.

"Hey!" Deidara barked, making the poor girl jump. Itachi raised an eyebrow at his companion. "Is Sasori-danna here? hn."

"S-Sasori kun?" She repeated. "Yes he's in the ba-"

"Stop calling me that Deidara, you're giving people the wrong impression." A voice rang out from the back. Deidara walked right to the source of it and Itachi followed at a distance.

"And what impression would that be, hn?" Deidara asked. Itachi let out an irritated sigh and walked around._ 'Maybe there's something Sasuke would like here?' _The older Uchiha browsed the shelves. He eyed many a miniature plastic dinosaur snarling up at him, all of their sharp little white teeth bared. He passed by the Legos knowing full well that Sasuke would never touch them. Eventually he found something hiding in between a shelf and the wall. A skateboard.

He was just finishing checking out when Deidara came tearing out of one of the isles. He grabbed Itachi by the arm and attempted to drag him towards the door. "We're leaving, hn." The blonde stated shortly. Itachi jerked his arm out of Deidara's hold to grab his purchase from the front desk. He caught sight of Akasuna-senpai staring blankly after Deidara and him. He rose a hand in goodbye then followed after the unusually quiet blonde.

"Did something happen?"

"No, nothing, hn."

"You're not terribly convincing."

"Just shut up, alright? Hn." They were quiet for a moment.

Only once before had Itachi seen Deidara like this. He didn't know what had caused it at that time but he knew what had cheered the blonde up; seeing Itachi in pain. The Uchiha bit his lip then decided. "Hey, Deidara."

"What? hn"

"I think I've changed my mind. I want to get my ear pierced." Itachi stated.

Deidara looked up at him completely shocked. Then a smirk slowly worked itself onto the blonde's face. _'Well I've done my duty as a friend... I guess that's good... Maybe.'_ Itachi mused. Deidara gleefully dragged him to the other side of the mall to their mutually favorite clothing store. "Hey." The manager, Anko-san, greeted. "We have a store wide sale twenty-"

"Twenty-five for two tank tops, yeah, we know, we're almost here as often as you guys, O-nee-san. hn." Deidara interrupted, pulling Itachi behind him.

The woman rolled her eyes and asked. "You two looking for anything in particular?"

"We're here to take his V-card away! Hn." Deidara announced. The manager's eyes went wide. Someone, the last person Itachi wanted to have heard that, stepped out from behind a shelf with a stack of folded shirts in his arms. Itachi felt the bottom fall out of his stomach and his face was warmer than it had been in ages.

"Sorry, we're not that kind of business." Yahiko-san stated jokingly. He appeared to have caught sight of Itachi a moment later. "Ah, Itachi-kun, good to see you again so soon." He greeted with that _'very nice'_ half-smile. Itachi answered it with his own _'pathetic'_ twitch of the lips. The redhead's eyes fell on Deidara beside him and the lines in the pierced man's face seemed to almost stiffen. _'Does he have something against Deidara?'_ Itachi wondered. "What can I do for you?" Yahiko-san asked.

The Uchiha's best friend announced. "This boring guy is gonna get his first piercing today, hn!"

Yahiko-san eyed Itachi questioningly. "I think it might look good and if I don't like it, all I have to do is take it out." Itachi stated, avoiding eye contact and gave an uncharacteristic shrug of his shoulders.

The redhead smiled. "Welcome to the dark side, then. Let's take that 'V-card' shall we?"

Itachi touched his burning cheeks just to make sure they weren't melting. "I'll follow you then." He answered. "Hold this, Deidara." He passed the skateboard to the exuberant blonde.

They went to the back corner of the shop. A small section was curtained off with the a sign reading "STAFF ONLY (Ignore the man behind the curtain)" Hanging from the overhead railing. "Alright, take a seat here and I'll get everything ready." Yahiko-san stated, patting the top of a chair as he passed it by on his way to a cupboard.

Itachi did as he was told and made himself as comfortable as possible, which is to say at that moment, not at all. His hands were folded neatly in his lap and his back was as straight as a lamppost. "So I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you want just your ears pierced?"

"Just one of my ears, the left, I think." Itachi answered touching the earlobe itself.

"Have a preference? These are the basic ones. If you want anything fancier you can look in the case over there." Yahiko-san stated, holding out a sheet of cardstock with multiple different types of studs. He was leaning on the arm of the chair and looming over Itachi. Close enough raven-haired teen for him to smell a scent of soap and a subtle hint of natural musk underneath. _'Close enough to touch' _

It took a moment for him to regain his speech "I'm not sure." His voice was notably rougher than usual. "Suggest one for me?" At the moment he wouldn't really care if Yahiko-san stuck him with something bright orange with unicorns on it. As long as the older man stayed close to him.

"Oh, you give me quite an honor." The pierced man grinned, stepping to stand directly in front of Itachi. "Look up for me." He requested touching Itachi lightly on the chin and holding the cardstock beside his face. "Yeah, you'll look nice with the garnet and silver stud, I think" Yahiko-san remarked after a moment. Pointing to the stud in question. Itachi nodded feeling a little stupid. "Alright." Yahiko-san said taking the card back and setting it on the counter. Chills shot up and down Itachi's spine as Yahiko-san's hands swept his hair over his right shoulder exposing the back of his neck to the cool air. The redhead's fingers left trails of electricity wherever they touched the younger teen's skin. He felt a small sensation of loss when they retreated from his neck. He noted the vaguely familiar sound of latex gloves being pulled on. Itachi heard footsteps and jerked with a small gasp when something wet and cold touched his earlobe. "Relax, just sterilizing it." The pierced man hummed softly. The damp cloth of the alcohol swab dabbed gently and thoroughly around the sensitive flesh.

"I'm not too late, am I, hn?!" A loud blonde thing Itachi vaguely remembered having as a friend burst into the room. The raven-haired teen jumped so violently that Yahiko-san dropped the cotton swab. "Damn, you're manager's a bitch, hn." Deidara stated in a stage whisper. Itachi, had his restraint been any weaker, would have pressed a hand to his face in embarrassment. He settled for giving Deidara a look that plainly said "Shut up."

"You're free to leave anytime you want!" The woman's voice called from past the curtain.

"She gets her job done." Yahiko-san replied from behind Itachi. Something about the man's cheerful tone seemed almost artificial. The redhead picked the cotton swab up from the raven-haired teen's lap and returned to the counter. The idea of having the pierced man's hand so close to his lap didn't help with his blush. Deidara wiggled a suggestive eyebrow in Itachi's direction. Itachi shot a rare glare in his direction. "Alright, I'm just gonna mark where the needle will go." Yahiko-san spoke. Gentle fingers tugged at his earlobe and something rough pressed against the center of it.

Yahiko returned to stand in front of Itachi. "Alright, this will sting a bit." Yahiko-san warned. Itachi nodded up at him swallowing now that his throat felt dry. His face was stoic despite the faint blush on his cheeks and the rapid beating of his heart. "Don't worry." _'Do I look nervous?'_

"I'm not." Itachi spoke before thinking. A genuine little smile came to the pierced man's lips that brought a smaller version to Itachi's own. He grunted softly as the needle pierced the skin and the stud was set in place.

"Aaaaannnd, all done." Yahiko-san grinned snapping the back onto the stud. Itachi realized their faces were suddenly very close. His throat went dry and Yahiko let out breathy, barely-there laugh. Itachi was mesmerized by warm, brown eyes.

In seconds the soft brown orbs were replaced by a single, slightly-crazed blue and a lot of blonde "Lemme see! Hn." Both of the males were more than slightly annoyed with the speaker. Itachi shoved Deidara's face away "You're too close, Deidara." and stood regaining his composure he turned and thanked Yahiko-san while internally both thanking and cursing his best friend.

* * *

Holy shit I nearly gave myself a heart attack, I was just at the last paragraph of writing this and I accidentally did right click 'Paste clipboard' without knowing it. I thought I just deleted an entire night's work! The 'Undo' option is a magical invention.

Anyhow, if you bothered to read this chapter please review and tell me what you think of the Yahiko/Itachi pairing!

By the way when Itachi asked Deidara "Why do people like you?" I was sort of injecting my own question in there. Deidara seems to me like a dickish older brother (in the anime at least, I haven't read Part II of the manga yet.) And I provided the only answer I could think of. I must say Deidara's physically attractive. I like mah men androgynous!


	8. Chapter 8

Little tongue twister for you: 'The masked man asked' say that five times fast.

Listening to that happy/sad song from Ao no Exorcist I'm tearing up. Now that anime has a fantastic soundtrack.

I decided that MS Paint was too time consuming I'm going to use actual paint and paper instead. Plus I may begin doing art work for each chapter.

* * *

Chapter 8: Bad News and Old Geezers

"Alright, read the top row with just your left eye." The buxom blonde woman commanded. Kakashi flipped up his eye patch. He covered his right eye with a hand and read aloud "A, D ...Q, B... M?"

"Alright, and the next row?" Tsunade-san said scribbling something on her clipboard.

"...G...T...R? …. B...S."

"Alright, now your right eye with this next set."

"F, L... N... S, V."

Tsunade-san sighed and turned off the projector and the lights on. "Your vision is degenerating faster than we predicted. I'm actually surprised you can still drive safely."

"I see."

"You only got five right out of the two top sets of letters." She stated. "From what you've told me it seems that your body has began to reject Obito-san's eye."

"How can you be sure?" Kakashi asked, flipping his eye patch back down.

"I can't, to be honest. You're the only person who's ever had a successful transplant of tissue altered by the Ds3-11 serum. Until now, it seems." She crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the counter of the exam room.

"Why is it being rejected now?" Kakashi asked leaning forward in his seat. His fingers laced together against his lips.

"I'm not sure."

"Do you have any theories?"

"It could be that after three years of no longer receiving the injections your body now sees anything permanently infused with it, meaning your left eye and the section of ocular nerve donated by Obito-san, as foreign."

Kakashi sighed and bit his lip beneath his mask.

"Is there anything we can do about it?"

"We can try to give you more injections of the Ds3-11-"

"No." Kakashi stated tonelessly.

"This could save your vision, Brat." She spoke shortly. "With the sound of how bad your symptoms are I wouldn't be surprised if your immune system was attacking most of your ocular nerve. Do you understand? You could be completely blind by the end of the year!"

"I'm not taking another injection."

"Why not?"

"You know how the organization is, Tsunade-san. They'd be knocking down my door as soon as the needle broke the skin demanding ten favors in return."

Tsunade-san scowled. "The Uchiha boys need a fully capable parent. You know how the state is about situations like this."

"Sasuke and Itachi are already in my full custody. It would be a very long process for the state to seize them from me on those grounds and with Itachi it would be hardly worth it since he'll be eighteen in two years. The kynesthetic and sensory alterations still work just fine, I can tell where I am perfectly fine without my vision. The only thing that would require any help from the boys would be driving and Itachi will have his license soon."

"How will you work?"

"I have a very large savings account and pension from my time in ANBU. I can still work at Guy's dojo and the diner if need be."

"And what if, By the off chance that something goes wrong you die?" The buzz of the overhead florescent lights seemed to drown out everything else. Kakashi exchanged long look with the older woman.

"Is that a strong possibility?" The masked man asked softly.

"Not strong, but stronger than I'd like it to be." She stated.

"If that is the case, I've organized a trust fund for them. It should be large enough to pay college tuition, food, and housing expenses for the next decade or so as long as they aren't-"

"I'm not talking about money, Kakashi." _'Uh-oh, she's actually mad this time.'_

"Maa, you sound like Itachi." Kakashi stated.

"He's a smart boy. Has he figured out what's wrong yet?"

"He doesn't know enough to accurately guess what it is but he knows something is wrong. Sasuke's catching on quickly too."

"Perhaps you should tell them about your past."

"That would put the both of them in a lot of danger." The silver-haired man and the older woman stared one another down.

Minutes later it was silently decided that Kakashi had won the battle of wills. Tsunade-san growled frustratedly in the back of her throat. "Fine, you win for now, but I want to see you in here again in a month. Got that? Schedule it with Shizune on your way out." Kakashi stood from his chair and stepped towards the door. She turned her back on him to lean over the counter.

"Thank you." He said.

"For Kami-sama's sake don't thank me, I'm the one who did this to you after all." She grumbled pulling a bottle of sake and a cup from some hidden part of the overhead cupboard and poured herself a drink. "Be careful, Brat." She said softly.

"When have I ever not been?" Kakashi said a (somewhat forced) smile in his voice and on his face.

She snorted ungracefully and downed the entire cup of sake in one sip, then refilled another one as Kakashi closed the door behind himself.

* * *

The bells on the door handle jangled loudly as Kakashi entered the dust-scented little shop. "Ah, just in time, Kakashi-chan." Fukusaku-san greeted. He slowly stood from his little stool behind the counter. Fukusaku-san was a tiny man of unknown old age who greatly resembled a toad. He came to stand in front of Kakashi with a wide smile on his face. "A nice young man left us with a box of books ta appraise. He said he'd be back later today for an estimate." The ancient man held his shaking hands together.

"Alright." Kakashi affirmed with a smile. He began taking the old reference books out of the large box near the manual cash register beginning with the examination.

"Ah, you're a life-saver, Kakashi-chan. I'm not sure what tha old lady and I would do without your help."

"Oh, I'm sure you two could get by with Kichi-kun."

"That lazy great nephew o' mine? Nonsense." The man waved a tiny withered hand with a shake of his head. The phone nearby began to ring loudly.

"Myoboku Antiques, this is Kakashi speaking, how may I help you?" Kakashi stated holding the phone between his shoulder and jaw as he typed in the name of the latest book into the ancient dusty computer on the counter.

"Oh, this isn't Tempura Heaven?"

Kakashi suppressed a sigh "No, I'm afraid not, Dial six instead of nine next time." He vaguely registered that the little man beside him had began to mutter grumpily about just where Tempura Heaven could shove its "idiot customers" "who can't even dial a phone right!"

"...I did dial six."

"Well the number for Tempura Heaven 293-5463." Kakashi stated.

"Oh, alright, I dialed eight instead of five." _'I don't particularly care, sir.'_ "Thanks, man."

"You're welcome, have a good day, sir." Kakashi set the phone back down.

"'Nother one calling for that tempura place?"

"I'm afraid so."

"Stupid kids." _'Maybe I really am getting old' _Kakashi mused when he felt that he couldn't agree more with the old man's muttered sentiment.

* * *

Later that day Kakashi went to pick Sasuke up from school. Feeling in a bit better than he had after hearing Tsunade-san's grim news. Fukusaku-san and his wife, Shima-san were a two-man comedy act. Even though Kakashi wasn't really the type to laugh aloud, the old couple never failed to lighten his mood.

Kakashi parked the car and stepped out. Children scurried back and forth across a large playground in front of the school. Teachers were standing here and there to keep an eye on things. Kakashi scanned the scattered hordes to look for the spiky black head of his ward.

A moment later he found the boy skulking in the shade of a tree watching the others with an expression of blank disinterest. A small crowd of girls watched from behind a large Honeysuckle bush a small distance away giggling and blushing. Kakashi was walking towards him when a flicker of orange caught his eye.

Naruto-kun was sprinting as fast as his legs could carry him away from an enraged -and sopping wet- teacher hot on his heels, laughing his head off wildly all the way. Kakashi, quickly determining the little boy's trajectory, hurried forward in case of any potential bloodshed.

"Oof!" The blonde blur collided with the sullen Uchiha boy. They tumbled in a fantastic tangle of limbs and disgruntled squawks.

"Get off of me Dobe!" Sasuke cried, pushing the other boy's face away from his own and squashing the blonde's nose. _'Did Sasuke just... yell?'_

"OW! Guid id, De'e!" Naruto-kun's protests were muffled by the other boy's hand smooshing half of his mouth shut.

"NARUTO!" The large teacher bellowed past his heavy breathing. "You are in so much trouble! Just wait until I tell Iruka-san about this!" The man pulled Naruto-kun up by the scruff of his shirt and set him on his feet. "Wait, no! It was an accident! My hand slipped!" The blonde shrieked dramatically. Both Kakashi and Sasuke watched as he was hauled into the building not knowing just how terrible of a fate awaited him inside in the form of an angry brunet grade school teacher.

"Are you alright, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked holding out a hand to help Sasuke up. The boy ignored the offered hand and stood.

"Yeah." He brushed his white shorts free of dirt. They walked back to Kakashi's car and drove back home.

"You're acting weird today, Kakashi." Sasuke stated out of the blue.

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders and sat back in his seat to stare out of the window. _'Well, alright then.' _Kakashi mused.

* * *

Dinner was quiet as usual. Afterwords Sasuke put his dirty plates on the kitchen counter near the sink and went upstairs. Kakashi cleaned up the kitchen and went to relax on the couch for while. Massaging his neck he mulled over what Tsunade-san had told him. The small hint of happiness from the encounter with Iruka-san and the Myoboku couple earlier today fled quickly at the memory of his eye exam. He sighed heavily.

_'I wonder if I'll be able to do that thing where I can touch people's faces to find out what they look like...'_ He closed his eye and ran both of his hands over his face. _'No, probably not.'_ He mused, running a finger over the ridge of his nose.

"What do I want to see?" He wondered. He'd never wanted to really go somewhere in particular. With his old job he had traveled around the world but the only landmarks he saw usually tended to be covered in bloodstains and not terribly pretty to begin with. A back alley in Paris. A ditch alongside a dirt road in the Russian countryside. A dingy motel room in Rio. A broken down mobile home turned hackers den in Florida. A dusty bunker forty miles outside of Baghdad.

A cold nose snuffled at his half-exposed ear. He squinted sideways and saw the familiar shape of his pug who's eyes looked straight back with all to much self awareness. Pakkun seemed to know that he was dog and he wasn't very happy about it. "What are you doing up here?" Kakashi asked softly. The pug laid itself down on the back of the couch near Kakashi's head and began to doze off. Kakashi scratched bhind floppy, dark ears and went back to brooding.

Sasuke and Itachi, It would be nice to see them all grown up as fully functioning, healthy adults someday. Although in Sasuke's case that may never be possible even if Kakashi made a miraculous recovery. "I wonder if they sell Icha Icha in braille..." He let out a breathy, mirthless laugh a few seconds later. "No, probably not."

Aaaannd now he was depressed. He stood up from the couch and stretched. _'Endorphins.'_ He went upstairs to change into jogging shorts and a tank top.

He ran. He ran and ran and ran and ran until he lost himself in the repetitive motions of his body.

His feet hitting the ground.

His calves tensing the moment his weight hit them.

His knees bending.

His torso twisting.

His hands into the air in front of his face.

The thoughts that were like storm clouds inside of his mind almost seemed nonexistent as he focused on the physical sensations. The suburban roads of his neighborhood were dimly lit by ugly orange streetlamps, the yellow light pouring from the windows of houses and the faint traces of moonlight. Just for a while he didn't want to think about what his future might hold. He'd deal with it when it came. He was adaptable and he'd lived this long through seemingly impossible odds. But he didn't want to have to tell the boys that their life would get harder. That pretty soon they might have to take care of him rather than the other way around.

_'Stop thinking.'_

"Whoa, that old guy's hauling ass! Run, Forest, run!" An unfamiliar voice called loudly.

_'Old? I'm not old. 26 isn't old.'_

"Hey, come on geezer! Faster! Faster!" A large SUV drove along side him.

_'Geezer?'_

"Dude, he's already doing like, 43!"

_'Only 43?'_ Kakashi thought stepping up his pace.

"Whoa. He's going faster! C'mon man speed up! I need to get this shit on camera."

"Do you mind not doing that actually?" Kakashi said loud enough for them to hear, still running.

"Dude we're gonna be pulled over! The speed limit's 25!" The driver of the car said.

"Shut up man! Hey, Old dude, What's your name?"

"I prefer not to answer that." Kakashi stated.

"We're going like, sixty, I can't get a ticket, my mom'll kill me!"

"Shut up and drive!" The teenager hanging out of the car window yelled. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it on.

_'Just when I got a nice rhythm going.'_ Kakashi sighed internally. He turned sharply and scaled a fence to get to the street on the other side.

"Shit! He got away!" Kakashi heard from a distance behind him. He smirked feeling slightly satisfied with himself.

_'This old geezer's out of shape.'_ He thought panting hard and slumping against the nearby fence a few minutes later. He pulled up the hem of his tank top to mop at his slightly sweaty face. After catching his breath he stood and ran (at a slightly more sedate pace) back home.

"Not an old man..." He breathed "Perfectly functional..." He sped up again "It's just my eyes that won't be." He felt the depression begin to creep back into his body, he shook it off and kept going "Just my eyes, not me."

* * *

There's my blurb of medical pseudo-science. Usually when nerves are severed it's the end but in the AU Narutoverse let's just say that it's possible to transplant them, eh? I originally ended it on a more serious note, but I decided that even though Kakashi may be the type to brood every once in a while he's probably learned by now that he can't dwell on all of the bad crap that he's gone through. I tried to inject as much light as I could into it. Review and tell me what you think.


	9. Chapter 9

Sorry that this is so late. The good news is I wrote a nice, long one for ya. Please enjoy!

I need a nap. I only got three hours of sleep the other...morning, I guess. I'm not really functional right now.

* * *

Chapter 9: New Friends and Nearly Deadly Collisions

Thursday, another karate day. What did the parent's typically do? Drop their kids off and go run other errands for the hour or so that their children were occupied? Iruka hadn't seen any other parents there until near the end of the class so that must be it. He had stuck around to watch the first lesson and make sure that Naruto actually liked it. He dropped Naruto off, offering a small wave and a smile towards the masked man greeting them at the door. Kakashi-sensei returned the gesture but something was off. Iruka wondered what it was but decided it wasn't his business. It did, however, worry him a little.

It's not that the other man seemed like the type to be overly cheerful. Far from it, Iruka could never imagine his cool persona capable of cheer in excess. But the dullness of Kakashi-sensei's eye and the slouch in his posture seemed more pronounced than before. He decided to ask after the lesson was finished, in the mean time he'd try to find a coffee shop nearby and hopefully get some grading done.

* * *

Almost an hour later Iruka returned to the dojo with a satisfying amount of his work done. He stepped inside and waited for Naruto. Other parents stood around or sat in the three rows of chairs facing the windows watching their children. Iruka spotted Naruto and was happy to see that the boy looked like he was enjoying himself.

He was even standing beside Sasuke-kun without any bloodshed. To Iruka's great surprise he noticed that the little blonde would shoot an occasional glare at the other boy but without any real heat to it. His glances seemed more appraising than insulting and pretty soon something would shift in his stance or movements and he'd be pulling strikes, blocks and kicks just as well as the boy beside him. _'Perhaps you have more respect for Sasuke-kun than we thought, Naruto.'_ Iruka mused watching the two boys.

Soon enough the children were finished and Kakashi-sensei called for the end of class. Iruka watched the masked man a little too attentively as he moved around the room pushing punching bags back against the wall and making sure the floor of the room was clean. Iruka hadn't noticed he had been staring too long until he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"Iruka sensei? You're making faces again!" Naruto remarked loudly. Iruka blushed brightly and shot a discreet glance around the room. Only a few parents were left, two of them were giving Iruka questioning looks. _'Thank you. Naruto.'_

"Stop saying my face is weird." Iruka said with a frown mushing the skin between Naruto's eyebrows downwards with his thumb so that he looked like a little blond troll.

"Ah, Iruka-sensei." Kakashi-sensei's voice greeted. Iruka looked up and spotted the masked man standing a couple feet behind Naruto. _'I didn't even notice him coming over there.'_ "If you're not in a hurry at the moment. I was thinking I could get you the order forms for Naruto-kun's sparring gear?"

"Oh, I nearly forgot." Iruka stated. "I have time." He answered.

"Alright, please follow me, Sensei." Kakashi-sensei instructed. Iruka looked back at Naruto who was now bickering with Sasuke-kun over some thing or another.

"Naruto!" He called. Naruto either didn't hear or just wasn't paying attention. He touched the boy's shoulder to get his attention. "I'm going with Kakashi-sensei for a couple minutes, do you want to stay here?"

"Yeah."

"Alright. See you in a moment, and don't leave this area, alright?"

"You worry too much, Sensei!"

"'Sensei?' Isn't he your dad, Dead Last?"

"Stop calling me that! And he's not my dad, I'm adopted!" Iruka felt a little bit of hurt at the careless comment but chose not to let it show.

Sasuke-kun shrugged and turned away. "Just stay where you are." Iruka commanded turning to follow Kakashi-sensei who stood a few feet away watching silently.

Iruka followed the karate instructor into a small cluttered office and waited as the silver-haired man began looking through one of the file cabinets. _'Should I ask him?'_ Kakashi-sensei's shoulders seemed tenser than usual and the boredom in his eye looked slightly forced. Iruka was just about to speak up when Kakashi-sensei beat him to the punch ( ha)

"So, Naruto-kun's adopted. I wouldn't have guessed, honestly." The masked man stated. Iruka was stunned for a moment but relaxed and replied.

"Really? We don't really look anything alike..." He stated, his thoughts fixed on the blonde hair and blue eyes of his adopted son

"I simply assumed he took after his mother." Kakashi-sensei stated.

"Oh, his looks come more from his father, I think. He has a picture of them." Iruka shrugged.

"I see..." There was a pause that was more tense than it should have been.

"Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka asked.

"Yes?" The silver-haired man pulled out a file folder and flipped it open.

"I know we don't know one another very well, but are you alright? You seem a little down today." There, he'd asked.

"What?" Kakashi-sensei turned and looked directly at Iruka. His gaze was more intense than Iruka had ever seen it.

"I'm sorry. It's none of my business." Iruka backtracked putting his hands in front of him with a nervous smile.

"No, no. You just caught me by surprise is all." Kakashi-sensei stated after a moment. "I'll be fine, Iruka-sensei. Thank you for asking though."

Iruka smiled "I hope you feel better soon." The masked man smiled back and Iruka felt a small bubble of happiness swell in his chest.

"By the way, Sasuke and I ran into Naruto-kun the other day." Kakashi-sensei informed.

"Oh? When?"

"After school when I came to pick Sasuke up." _'That's around the time when...'_

"Ah. I see. Yes, I might have heard something like that from Sato-sensei." Iruka grit his teeth in a smile. "I hope Sasuke-kun's alright. Naruto really needs to learn to look where he's going."

"He's perfectly fine." Kakashi-sensei assured pulling a form from a nondescript file folder. "There we go, Sensei. If you'll just check off the things in this box." He tapped the top box and crossed out the other two on the page. "And sign at the bottom." He drew an 'X' in front of the line. "We take checks and cash."

"Mind if I get this back to you later?" Iruka asked taking the slip of paper handed to him.

"Not at all."

"Thank you, Kakashi-sensei." Iruka said with a smile.

"Thank you." The silver-haired man stated his eye turned up cheerfully. Again, it seemed a little forced. Iruka was worried but decided it wasn't his place to pry if Kakashi-sensei didn't want to tell him.

* * *

The next morning Iruka stepped inside the front entrance of the elementary school with an elbow-high blonde at his side. "You're all good for Ebisu-san's test today?"

"Mm-hm." Naruto sounded looking determined. "I'm gonna nail it!"

"You better." Iruka said in a teasing voice. "Or I see a terrible decrease in Ichiraku's in the future."

"What!?"

"I'm kidding, Naruto." Iruka chuckled.

"Good Morning, Iruka-sensei." A voice that Iruka was becoming increasingly familiar with greeted.

"Kakashi-sensei, good morning." He turned to smile at the masked man who had entered the school just behind him. "It's nice to see you too, Itachi-kun Sasuke-kun." He greeted noticing the dark children behind the other man. "Is Sasuke-kun going to the before-school care regularly now?" Iruka asked.

"I've asked for more hours so he'll be here much more often." Kakashi-sensei answered.

"Mmmnn." Iruka heard an ominous growl from waist level. He turned and felt a spike of annoyance when he noticed the little blonde was exchanging glares with the other black haired boy. 'Bonk' Iruka's fist landed on the top of a spiky-haired head with enough force to hurt but not to injure.

"Give it a rest." He commanded a grumbling Naruto. It felt natural to fall into step next to Kakashi-sensei even though his classroom was in the other direction. It felt natural to strike up conversation with him and smile more than he ever had just having a normal discussion.

"I'm a little skeptical that they hate one another as much as they'd like to think." Iruka spoke softly leaning a little closer to Kakashi-sensei. When they were out of earshot of the two pre-teen boys walking ahead of them.

"You think so?" Kakashi-sensei asked turning his head a little to look at Iruka.

"Well, Naruto at least. He just doesn't really know how to make friends. He's so used to fighting with other kids his age he's probably just approaching it the only way he knows how." Iruka shrugged.

"I certainly hope so. Sasuke needs a friend" Itachi-kun stated from the other side of Kakashi-sensei.

"They seem to be a decent pair. You and that blonde kid get along alright, right Itachi?" Kakashi-sensei stated.

"Deidara. I suppose we do." Itachi said noncommittally.

"Well, I suppose we'll just have to wait and see." Kakashi-sensei shrugged eying the two boys ahead, exchanging glares and scowls. Iruka felt a little hope while watching them walk side by side. His bubble burst when both boys attempted to go through the door to room 8b at the same time. Bickering ensued and after a moment Iruka finally lost his temper. "STOP BEING RIDICULOUS YOU TWO, YOU'RE BLOCKING THE WAY!" He yelled a vein throbbing in his forehead.

Naruto frantically pushed inside the room with a hurried "Yes, Sensei!" Effectively toppling Sasuke-kun in his rush past the slightly taller boy.

Sasuke-kun clambered upright and shot a shocked look back at Iruka. The scarred man felt the weight of a hand on his shoulder and he turned his head to find Kakashi-sensei leaning into his side. The masked man was smiling in Sasuke-kun's direction with a little wave "Have a good day." Sasuke-kun scowled and turned walking further inside. He was more than a little surprised and pleased that Kakashi-sensei had touched him, even if it was just to use him as support.

"Sensei, I don't think I've ever seen someone yell quite like that. You're quite fearsome." Kakashi-sensei remarked. Iruka felt a wave of embarrassment that settled heavily in his gut and burned in his cheeks _'Will I ever have a conversation with this man without blushing?'_ He wondered.

"Yes... Um... Sorry."

"Not at all, Sensei. It was pretty entertaining to watch. Actually." Kakashi-sensei stated with a somehow... deviant look in his upturned eye. It worried Iruka slightly.

"Um, alright then, if you say so." He answered not really knowing what else to respond with. They separated at the front doorway and Iruka, again, found himself waving the masked man and his son goodbye.

* * *

"Sensei! I don't get this!" Konohamaru-kun stated lifting his hand.

"No, I guess you wouldn't since you've been doodling ever. Since. Class. Started." Iruka replied through gritted teeth. He loved his students, really, but Fridays were truly the worst days to be a school teacher. The kids were rowdier, ready for the weekend and his patience had slowly been put underneath gradually increasing strain ever since lunch time. Konohamaru-kun was accustomed to Iruka's menacing tone and had apparently decided he didn't care if he ran the risk of being horribly murdered today.

"I'm bored. Can we go outside?"

"No. We're doing math now. Not recess." Iruka turned to face the black board again and went back to scribbling simple math problems and explaining the rules of them.

"Iruka-sensei?" The brazen little terror called.

"Yes. Konohamaru-kun?" Iruka asked in a dark tone turning to face his class.

"Can I go to the bathroom?"

"You went last class, can't it wait until the end of this one?"

"But I really have to go." _'Bullshit'_

"There's only fifteen minutes left. I guess you'll just have to hold it then." Iruka turned back to the blackboard. A few minutes later.

"Sense-"

"I SWEAR KONOHAMARU-KUN, IF YOU'RE NOT BLEEDING TO DEATH WHEN I TURN AROUND YOU WILL BE SOON!" Iruka bellowed. The chalk crumbled to dust in his hand. A deadly hush fell around the room. A few moments later Iruka picked up another stick of chalk and continued writing. "That's what I thought." He stated and went back to the lesson.

* * *

As he stepped out of the building he looked around at the many children playing on the playground until he spotted the familiar blonde and orange of his adoptive son. He stopped in his tracks a moment later when he noticed that the little blonde wasn't alone. Beside him stood yet another familiar boy. They, surprisingly, seemed to be getting along without exchanging glares Naruto a little sulky and the others face was a perfect mask of indifference but it was an improvement from yesterday, this morning even. Iruka smiled a little to himself. He strode over to the boys.

"Naruto, are you ready to go?"

"Yeah." The boy answered.

"See you, Teme." Naruto sniffed. Iruka looked around. The other teachers were still standing around watching the other kids. _'Should I stay behind?' _Iruka wondered looking at Sasuke-kun.

"Actually Naruto, how about we wait until Kakashi-sensei gets here?" Iruka stated.

"Why?" Naruto asked.

"Well for one I have to give him that order form for your sparring gear." Iruka answered leaning against a wooden fence that bordered a small garden. He scowled at a bright red tulip.

"You alright, Iruka-sensei?"

"It's nothing, that little protege of yours gave me a bit of a headache today." Iruka stated with a slight smile.

"What's a proto-jay?"

"Protege, Baka, it's like an apprentice." Sasuke-kun stated.

"Ooooh." Naruto sounded, surprisingly not rising to the insult. "Konohamaru's not my apprentice."

"Oh? Then what exactly were you discussing with him that concerned smearing olive oil in front of my classroom door?" Iruka asked.

"You heard that!?"

"You're not terribly good at whispering, Naruto." Iruka raised a stern eyebrow down at the mischievous boy crossing his arms.

Naruto sulked. Sasuke-kun concealed the faintest of smirks. They waited and Naruto rambled on about his day. Iruka was pleased that parts of it included Sasuke-kun accompanying Naruto.

After about ten minutes Iruka spotted a masked man walking towards them. Kakashi waved Iruka and Naruto hello and greeted them accordingly.

"Where's Itachi?" Sasuke-kun asked afterwords, looking up at his father.

"With that loud kid, I'm guessing. He texted saying he'd be back home by eleven."

"Deidara?"

"Yeah, him."

"hn"

"Kakashi-sensei, I was wondering, would you be willing to take this order form today?" Iruka asked pulling the form from his bag.

"Not a problem Sensei." Kakashi said with a smile taking the envelope.

"Thank you." Iruka said brightly. That slightly worrying glint came back into the silver-haired man's eye. Iruka brushed it off and both of the small families walked back to their cars.

* * *

"Naruto." Iruka spoke over his oyakodon*

"Mnyeah?" The boy asked through a mouth full of food.

"Chew your food before speaking that's gross, Naruto. What do you think of, maybe, asking Sasuke-kun over one of these days?" He asked

"What!?" Naruto bellowed nearly spraying Iruka with chicken and egg.

Iruka wrinkled his nose and pulled a paper towel from the roll nearby and cleaned up the food Naruto had spat all over his side of the table. "Why would I invite Sasuke-bastard over here!?"

"Language. Well, you're friends aren't you?" Iruka asked, knowing that 'friend' was a bit of a stretch from the relationship between Naruto and Sasuke-kun but _'I guess this could be called planting the seed of doubt... or whatever kind of seed it is.' _He seriously just wanted Naruto to have a friend by the time school was out for summer break and Sasuke-kun had shown the best potential so far. _'Which is...actually kind of sad...'_ He brooded. After a moment Iruka noticed that the kitchen, for once, was completely silent. Naruto was speechless. His large blue eyes were wide and his mouth slightly open a few grains of rice stuck to his cheeks. "Sasuke's... my friend?"

Iruka saw an opening. "I think you certainly could be." He smiled.

A grin brightened the boy's face. He giggled "Alright! I'll ask him tomorrow!"

Iruka dug into his dinner _'And maybe this might allow me to get to know Kakashi-sensei a little better too.'_ He suppressed a little smile as he chewed a chunk of chicken.

* * *

Iruka woke the next morning and rolled over in his bed with a soft groan and buried his face his pillows. After a half an hour or so he rolled into a sitting position rubbed his face and in another 15 minutes he was up and getting dressed in dark red running shorts and a light gray t-shirt. He went to the bathroom, cleaned up brushed his hair and teeth and was tying his ponytail up as he passed Naruto's bedroom door. Knocking briefly before entering, Iruka called softly "Naruto?" There was no response except for the soft even breathing of the blonde boy. Iruka shook him by the shoulder. Blue eyes cracked open and attempted, unsuccessfully, to focus on Iruka's face.

"I'm going on a run, I should be back in an hour, don't try to do any cooking. Eat a pop tart or something until I get home, kay?"

"A'righn.." Naruto slurred, shutting his eyes again and returned to snuggling his pillow.

Iruka smiled and left the room as quietly as he could. It was already pretty warm even though the sun had only just come up. This summer was going to be a hot one. He and the old women down the hall knew it. He'd have to start waking up earlier to exercise or risk having a heat stroke. Iruka liked to think he took relatively good care of himself. He ate well and rarely ever missed a meal. He exercised as often as possible which tended only to be on the weekends. His job was a bit stressful but other than that his life wasn't terribly difficult.

He started off on a jog and mulled over the events of the week._ 'I wonder if he's really Sauke-kun's and Itachi-kun's father. They refer to him by his first name...'_ He didn't notice the blur of silver silently careening towards him.

'WHUMP!'

Iruka's eyes bulged as he was plowed into from the side. He flew maybe ten feet away and landed on the ground. He'd never been ran over by a car before but he had to think that this must have been what it felt like. He gaped like a fish out of water trying to recapture the wind that had been knocked out of him. He had cracked his head on the pavement and just now he noticed the pain that had caused. He touched his forehead where it had struck the pavement and cursed internally when he pulled the hand back to eye level and saw a few smudges of blood.

He felt hands urgently checking him over. _'Is someone, trying to rob me, or something?'_ He wondered still in slight shock from being hit. He felt a vein throb in his forehead. "Why..." He panted. A vaguely familiar voice asked something that Iruka didn't register. The moment he regained the ability to breathe properly he used it to bellow. "WATCH WHERE THE HELL YOU'RE GOING!" He propped himself up on his elbows and glowered at the figure leaning over him. It was only then that he noticed that the aforementioned figure was none other than a wide-eyed karate instructor. "Kakashi-sensei?" He asked anger temporarily forgotten.

"Iruka-sensei. I'm sorry. I didn't see you. He said. Iruka frowned and pushed himself up with a soft groan.

"Ugh I wasn't even in the road..." He grumbled. A pale hand hung offered in front of his face. A little surprised Iruka looked up at the slightly taller man._ 'When did he stand up?'_

"Are you alright?"

Iruka frowned up at him but after a while sighed as his anger dissolved. "Yeah, I think I'm alright." He grasped the hand and fought a small blush, it was warm and rough. The way the fingers that grasped his was firm with somehow obvious but unused strength.

He grunted as his ankle twinged painfully. He winced and stumbled. A large, steadying hand hurriedly placed itself on his waist. Iruka's face lit up in a fantastic shade of red. _'Kami-sama, I'm acting like a virginal teenage girl.' _"Um, thank you, I think I might have sprained it." He muttered his ankle throbbing painfully. He looked down at it. There was a large scrape on the ankle and a few more on the side of his calf, knee and thigh. There was a little bit of blood blooming from the deeper parts of the injuries.

"Let me check that over for you." Kakashi-sensei commanded suddenly.

"What? That's not necessary!" Iruka stated hurriedly.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist." Kakashi-sensei stated. Iruka frowned but complied. "Hm... now where's somewhere for you to sit?..." The masked man arched his head around.

"Passenger seat?"

"What?"

"The passenger seat."

"Like in a car?"

"Yeah."

"I can't just break into a car Iruka-sensei. They really let you teach young children with that outlook?"

"I mean _your_ car!"

"What about my car?"

Iruka's anger was rapidly returning. "I mean I could sit in the passenger seat of the car you hit me with." He gritted out.

Kakashi-sensei raised his visible eyebrow in Iruka's direction. "I didn't hit you with my car."

Iruka was just about to explode. _'I can't believe I had a crush on this asshole!' _"Then what _did_ you hit me with?"

"I'm not sure... I guess I just... ran into you." Kakashi-sensei finished rather lamely. Incredulity overpowered Iruka's irritation for a moment.

"Right, and you knocked me flying ten feet and gave me a possible concussion just by running into me." He raised a brow.

"It was more like fifteen feet actually." Kakashi-sensei corrected. Iruka scowled at him. "Anyways, how many fingers?"

"W-What!?" Iruka asked shying away from the masked man and his face turning the same color as a tomato.

"I'm checking for a concussion." Kakashi-sensei stated holding his hand higher and wiggling three fingers. "How many?"

"Oh, um, right. Three." Iruka answered his face still red from embarrassment now. _'Alright, he may be an asshole, but I guess that doesn't stop you from thinking that way about him.'_

"Date?"

"What!?"

"What's the date? Did I do something to your ears too, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi-sensei asked.

_'Damnit Iruka' _The brunet scolded himself. "Um.. May 21st, right?"

"Yup." Kakashi-sensei's eye turned up in a smile. "Is your house far from here, Sensei?" He asked. Iruka's eyebrows creased together.

"No, I only got a few blocks away." He sighed. _'So much for my nice workout.'_

"How about I help you back and I'll check your ankle when we get there," Kakashi-sensei asked.

Iruka gave a small smile "Alright, thank you, Kakashi-sensei."

The masked man didn't reply right away but ducked underneath Iruka's arm and pulled it over his shoulders. "It's the least I can do. I did this to you after all." The masked man's arm wrapped around Iruka's waist.

They walked maybe half a block in relative silence when Kakashi-sensei spoke again. "There's been something on my mind recently" He stated.

"Oh?"

"Yeah."

"What is it?"

"Well, I was thinking, Sasuke and Naruto-kun seem to get along don't they?"

"I'm not sure about Sasuke-kun, but Naruto's gotten along with him better than he ever has with anyone else, really."

"I agree. Sasuke rarely talks in full sentences to anyone besides Itachi and I. Naruto's the first person I've ever seen him have a full conversation with."

"Should we give them a little push? I've already told Naruto to pursue a friendship with Sasuke-kun if he wants to."

"They seem to be doing well enough on their own. Might as well let things happen naturally"

"You're right." Iruka stated. They shuffled on for a few more seconds and then Kakashi-sensei spoke again.

"Where's Naruto-kun right now?"

"Sleeping, I imagine. He usually doesn't wake up until nine on the weekends unless he's hungry. What about Sasuke-kun and Itachi-kun?"

"They both get up around six every morning. Itachi's old enough to watch Sasuke so I usually let them stay home." Kakashi-sensei shugged. Iruka grimaced when he remembered the discussion he had with Naruto's last babysitter. The girl had stormed out in a fit of rage, absolutely covered in spaghetti sauce and had never come back. "Iruka-sensei?"

"Sorry."

"You looked like you drifted off for a moment." Kakashi-sensei remarked.

Iruka smiled. "I was just remembering Naruto's last babysitter. For some reason he goes through them like instant ramen cups." The grade school teacher chuckled embarrassedly.

Kakashi-sensei was quiet for a moment. "What would you think about Itachi babysitting? I'd have to ask if it was alright with him but..."

"That would be great, I'll pay him, of course." Iruka stated his face lighting up with a smile. Kakashi-sensei returned it.

* * *

They stumbled back into the apartment. Kakashi-sensei helped Iruka over to the couch. _'Damnit, I really should have cleaned up.'_ Iruka thought eying books and DVD cases that covered most of the coffee table. Kakashi-sensei pushed some of them out of the way, sat on the table and patted his thigh as a signal for Iruka to place his foot there. Blushing slightly the scarred man hesitantly lifted his wounded foot and set it on the masked man's lap.

"Fffuuuuu" Kakashi-sensei breathed. "I did get a good hit on you." He remarked inspecting the swollen joint. The masked man gently cupped the back of Iruka's lower calf and put the palm of his other hand against the ball of the brunet's foot. Iruka felt like the touch was strangely intimate as the long pale fingers folded themselves over the side of his foot. Iruka watched the hands touching him attentively. They felt like the most fascinating things in the universe at the moment. "I'm going to press your foot back, tell me when it hurts, alright?" _'Is he speaking softer, or is this just my imagination?'_

Iruka nodded and Kakashi-sensei began. It wasn't long before Iruka grunted in pain "Alright, stop please." Iruka cringed.

"Sorry." The masked man apologized. "It just looks like a bad sprain." He said, placing the foot on the table beside his leg and stood. "Do you have a first aid kit, Sensei?" He asked.

"Oh yeah, it's in the bathroom in the cupboard beneath the sink." He said pointing to the hallway branching off from the living room. Kakashi-sensei nodded and stood.

"Want to come rinse out those scrapes, Iruka-sensei?"

"Um, Sure." Iruka hummed standing and leaning most of his weight on the couch. He didn't notice the hand hovering just over the small of his back. Iruka sat on the edge of the bath tub and spritzed down the abrasions on his legs and ankle. Kakashi-sensei was at the counter and looking through the supplies. He washed his hands thoroughly in the sink and then picked up the bandages and antibiotic ointment. He handed them to Iruka and sat on the other end of the side of the bathtub. He had kept one of the bandages and smeared a small glob of ointment on the scrape on Iruka's ankle.

Iruka hissed and began putting bandages and antibiotics on the wounds on his forehead and leg. "Be sure to tell me if it's too tight." Kakashi-sensei said taking a roll of compression wrap from the small kit. Iruka's cheeks only turned slightly pink at that and the brunet continued his work. The scarred man's eyes caught sight of those hands and he couldn't tear them away. They lifted his foot up and wrapped it with practiced ease.

"Are you a doctor, Kakashi-sensei?" Iruka's mouth moved before he had given it permission to do so.

Kakashi-sensei looked up at Iruka mildly surprised. "No, I've had some training with dealing with minor injuries though." He answered using the little metal clasps to seal the wrapping.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." Iruka stood testing his weight little by little on the injured ankle. "You should still keep off of it as much as possible." Kakashi-sensei mentioned from behind the grade school teacher.

Iruka turned his head and discovered that their faces suddenly were very close. He was too surprised (and maybe a little mesmerized) to really be embarrassed. Kakashi-sensei seemed like he was examining Iruka's face mainly around his mouth. _'Is it me or is he getting closer?'_ He stood still. _'I think he is.'_ He felt a blush return to his cheeks. _'Do I really care?'_ He wondered.

"'Ruka-sensei?" A sleepy voice startled them apart. Iruka felt his face burn and he spotted a pink tinge in Kakashi-sensei's visable cheek as wel. _'Is he... embarrassed?' _He wondered. "Um... Sorry." He whispered looking more at the floor than at the man he was apologizing to for no apparent reason as he hobbled out of the small bathroom. _'Damnit Iruka, only three years without sex and your brain's reverted back to a virgin mindset?'_

"I'm here, Naruto" The boy was standing (more like swaying) near the dining room table, staring off into space. The sleepy blonde boy turned and looked at Iruka through bleary blue eyes. Iruka watched him for a moment. "Do you nee-"

"What happened to you Iruka-sensei!?" Naruto cried pointing at Iruka's leg then at his face.

"I fell during my run" Iruka almost lied.

"Kaka-sensei!? What're you doing here!?" Naruto asked loudly, looking somewhere behind the brunet.

"You're being too familiar again, Naruto." Iruka stated. "Kakashi helped me home when I hurt my ankle."

"I wouldn't be a very nice person if I injured you and didn't even help you home afterwards, now would I?" Kakashi-sensei replied before Naruto could. Iruka turned his head back and shot Kakashi-sensei a small, partially irritated partially amused and partially shy lopsided smile. Iruka wasn't entirely sure but he felt like the single dark eye warmed a bit and crinkled slightly at the corner.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Iruka asked after a moment remembering that it was not normal to stare and smile awkwardly at your child's karate teacher. With a look of mild surprise Kakashi-sensei answered in the negative. "You're free to eat here, if you want." Iruka offered.

After a moment Kakashi-sensei accepted the brunet's invitation.

* * *

Hooooookay. Sorry again that this so late. All the sudden I have a social life again. It's bizzarre, like everyone I knew suddenly decided that they wanted to call me up and hang out. I worked extra hard to make this long and fluffy for you fantastical readers of mine.

*Oyakodon: Plain rice topped with egg dropped chicken.


	10. Chapter 10

Oh my deity. It's been a long past few days. So I've been having a lot of writers block. I have the ideas of where I want to go but it's just slow getting there. Ugh! I'm annoyed at myself. This is late again. I'm sorry, my loves. I'll try to do better with the next chapter.

* * *

Chapter 10: Juvenile Men and Half-Mummies

Kakashi watched the flame flicker as it devoured the corner of the slip of paper. He blew it out before it could get to the box of text. He laid it on the counter and after slopping half of his coffee into the sink set his mug on top of it. A few moments later he lifted the cup and found a perfect round brown stain on the order form. Taking a sip from the coffee he set it down again maybe an inch from where it had originally been placed leaving another stain. He repeated the process once more and then picked up an ancient hair dryer he'd never really remembered ever buying. He blew the paper dry, licked his thumb and rubbed it haphazardly across the page smudging some of the ink and graphite. Finally, he crumpled half of it in his hand and then flattened the paper out again. _'Done.'_

Kakashi, feeling satisfied with his work, decided that now he just had to leave it somewhere Iruka-sensei would see it.

"What's burning?" Itachi's voice asked from the doorway to the living room. The teen's voice was tense, but controlled, neither of the boys had fully recovered from that fire.

"Nothing, I blew it out." Kakashi reassured.

Itachi frowned and strode over to stand next to the masked man and eyed his handiwork. "What's this?" He took the slip of nearly ruined paper from Kakashi's hands and looked it over.

"An order form? What happened to it?" Itachi looked over the countertop spotting all of the tools Kakashi had used to practically destroy the order form. "Why are you ruining Naruto-kun's order form?"

Kakashi shrugged and retrieved the slip of paper from the teenager's hands. "I want to see if it'll make his father angry."

"Kakashi, why..." But then Itachi's eyes widened slightly in realization. "You're worse than a grade schooler with a crush."

Kakashi choked. "You really are perceptive, aren't you?" He muttered a moment later a faint trace of pink in his cheeks. It had happened when Iruka-sensei had lost his temper the other day. Before that Kakashi had only thought of the school teacher as a nice little piece of eye candy to brighten his day. But now he was interested. _'Just how easy or hard it would be to annoy him? I don't want to hit him again...'_ The masked man wanted to get to know him now that he'd revealed a little more of his character. "Anyways I already sent in a copy of the order form and Iruka-sensei's check to the supply company."

"So you're doing this solely for the purpose of making him mad?"

"Yes."

"You're terrible."

Kakashi shrugged again and crammed the slip of paper with careful carelessness into a side pocket of the duffle bag he used for his own karate gear.

"How is... what's his name again?"

"Deidara? He's fine I guess."

"What did you guys do?"

"Nothing in particular." Itachi shrugged opening one of the kitchen cupboards and taking down a box of crackers.

"You two didn't... I don't know... Go to the mall?" Kakashi asked knowingly. He appraised the contents of the fridge.

"No." Itachi replied with a hard note in his voice.

"Ah, well that's unfortunate." Kakashi stated. Anyways tomorrow's the weekend so if you so choose..." Kakashi saw a glint of polished metal from the corner of his eye and he turned. Itachi brushed his hair behind his ear as he bent down for something. "You got your ears pierced? I never would have taken you for the type."

Itachi froze for a moment. "Just the one. I... Deidara wouldn't stop pestering me about it... Does it look bad?" He asked standing upright and turning to face the masked man.

Kakashi looked between the stud and the teenager's face. "No, I just suggest you don't get any more before you get a job." He stated after a few seconds.

"Hn." Itachi grunted nodding and allowing his bangs to fall in front of his ears again. Kakashi busied himself with preparing dinner.

"Itachi." Kakashi spoke. _'…. No... just a little longer.'_ He decided. "I've realized I've probably been a pretty negligent parent." He said instead. "Do you even know how to cook most of the food I make you?" Kakashi asked turning to see his older ward. Itachi was giving him a hard look.

"Kakashi-"

"It's just about time you learn some skills for yourself anyways, don't you think?" Kakashi asked interrupting the dark-haired teen. The silence in the kitchen was deafening. "Mind mincing those chives for me?" The masked man handed Itachi a knife and directed him to a cutting board.

Itachi began slowly chopping the chives into small pieces.

Kakashi walked the teenager through the steps as he showed him what to do. Itachi was, of course, a genius so he'd probably grasp everything perfectly in no time.

* * *

Saturday morning started off almost like any other. Kakashi woke up early, stretched, changed into a jogging outfit and went downstairs for something to eat. He'd wait for the boys to wake up before making an actual breakfast. Until then he'd satisfy his hunger by munching on a granola bar or some sort of fruit if he was hungry. On the many days he wasn't a simple, strong cup of black coffee was just fine. After that he'd drink about two glasses of water, leave the house, lock the door and two or three hours later he'd head back home when he'd broken a good sweat.

He made two and a half laps around the city and after he'd finally finished his he turned to make the sprint back home. A high fence was on his right as he headed for a small intersection. A surge of pain spiked in the center of his head and white lights popped in his vision again. _'Shit'_ He cringed. In a moment he stumbled. It sort of felt like tripping over Pakkun (Seriously it was like that dog could pop up from underground or something) He paused and opened his eye.

It was seconds before he spotted the familiar form lying on the concrete maybe fifteen feet away. _'Shit.'_

* * *

Iruka-sensei's apartment was nice. There seemed to be no real central theme. Most of the furniture was mismatched. The coffee table was covered in books, DVD cases, and papers. A large television sat in the corner beside a sizable bookshelf filled to the brim with movies. Photographs stood proudly on the ends of shelves and hung on the walls, mainly depicting Iruka-sensei and Naruto-kun with wide grins on their faces with some tourist attraction serving as the backdrop.

Carefully, he let Iruka-sensei slip from his hold to set him on the couch. Kakashi pushed some of the clutter on the coffee table out of the way and took a seat on it facing Iruka-sensei. He patted his thigh signing for the pony-tailed sensei to set his foot there. The scarred man hesitantly obeyed. A faint flush in his cheeks. _'Cute.' _Then he looked down at his handiwork and felt his stomach drop a few inches. _'That looks terrible.'_

"Fffuuuuu" He breathed. "I did get a good hit on you." He prodded gently at the swollen ankle. He held Iruka-sensei's calf in place and put the palm of his other hand against the ball of the brunet's foot. The room seemed to go silent. An odd intensity filled the air. He looked up at Iruka-sensei's face and wondered if it was really possible for someone to look so deeply fascinated by something. _'Has he never been injured like this before?'_ "I'm going to press your foot back, tell me when it hurts, alright?" Kakashi murmured softly.

Iruka-sensei seemed to snap out of whatever it was and nodded. Kakashi began. Only a second or two afterwords "Alright, stop please." The brunet stated hurriedly.

"Sorry." The masked man apologized easing off of the wounded foot. "It just looks like a bad sprain." He stated. As gently as he could he shifted the foot off of his lap and stood up "Do you have a first aid kit, Sensei?" He asked.

"Oh," Iruka confirmed "Yeah it's in the bathroom in the cupboard beneath the sink." He pointed to a doorway leading out of the living room. The silver-haired man nodded.

"Want to come rinse out those scrapes, Iruka-sensei?" Kakashi asked when he noticed Iruka-sensei was making no move to get off the couch.

"Um, Sure." Iruka-sensei stood shakily on his uninjured foot. Kakashi walked beside the maimed sensei with his hand out, ready to catch him if he fell on their way to the restroom. The pony-tailed man sat on the edge of the bathtub with his leg underneath the faucet. The masked man made himself busy looking through the contents of the first aid kit after washing his hands. He took a few of the largest bandages in the kit and considered them for a moment. _'Will these even fit over...?' _After a few more seconds he deemed them acceptable and grabbed some of the antibiotic cream packets too, tearing open one small package and squeezing some of the goo out onto the tip of his index finger. He handed most of the supplies to Iruka-sensei who went to business nearly right away.

Kakashi treated the spot on Iruka-sensei's ankle first.

"Be sure to tell me if it's too tight." He took a roll of compression wrap from the small kit and went to work wrapping up Iruka-sensei's ankle.

"Are you a doctor, Kakashi-sensei?" The scarred man asked suddenly.

Kakashi looked up at Iruka-sensei mildly surprised. "No, I've had some training with dealing with minor injuries though." He answered using the little metal clasps to close the wrapping.

Iruka smiled at him. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Iruka-sensei carefully stood up. "You should still keep off of it as much as possible." Kakashi mentioned when he noticed a slight wince flash across the grade school teacher's face. He got up from his seat on the side of the tub to stand directly behind and a little to the left of the brunet.

Iruka-sensei turned his head and surprise flickered across his tanned features. _'Oh, I guess we're a little close.'_ Kakashi surmised. He would have taken a step away and apologized but at the moment, he didn't really want to. Oddly enough Iruka-sensei wasn't blushing already. Just staring with not-quite-large, not-quite-small dark eyes that felt like they were sucking Kakashi in. _'Should I...'_ Kakashi wondered slowly leaning in. The color returned to the scarred cheeks with a vengeance. The eyelids trimmed with short, dark lashes drooped ever so slightly, but not enough to hide the brightness in those captivating orbs.

Kakashi was willing to take that as consent for a kiss when "'Ruka-sensei?" A sleepy voice startled them apart.

Kakashi shockingly (at least it was shocking to him) felt a little heat rise in his cheeks. He avoided eye contact with Iruka-sensei while trying to keep his expression bored. He heard a whispered "Um... Sorry." From the brunet as he hobbled out of the small bathroom. Kakashi felt a small pang of disappointment that he tried to ignore for now.

As he took a few deep breaths to calm himself he vaguely registered Iruka-sensei calling for Naruto-kun's attention.

"What happened to you Iruka-sensei!?" Naruto-kun's distinctive voice bellowed from the direction of the living room. Kakashi followed the sound of the ruckus.

"I fell during my run" Iruka-sensei said. _'That's not... entirely what happened. But alright.' _Kakashi mused.

"Kaka-sensei!? What're you doing here!?" Naruto-kun asked loudly, catching sight of the karate instructor.

"You're being too familiar again, Naruto." Iruka-sensei stated exasperatedly. "Kakashi-san helped me home when I hurt my ankle." Whether accidental or no, Kakashi did notice the dropping of the more formal honorific. Luckily it seemed Naruto-kun did not. Hearing his name spoken informally from the brunet was, for lack of a better word, nice.

"I wouldn't be a very nice person if I injured you and didn't even help you home after words now would I?" Kakashi replied. Iruka-sensei turned his head back and shot Kakashi a small, shy, lopsided smile that seemed to hold a little more meaning than it had before. Kakashi felt an odd sensation in his chest and the hallway they stood in felt a little warmer all of the sudden. He smiled back. This one was a bit more genuine than the other smirks and polite upturns of his visible eye.

"Have you had breakfast yet?" Iruka-sensei asked after a moment.

Mildly surprised Kakashi answered "I haven't."

"You're free to eat here, if you want." Iruka-sensei offered.

Kakashi nodded "I'd like that."

Iruka-sensei. _'-San' _Iruka-san, despite Kakashi's offer to help, had bullied the masked man into taking a seat while he made breakfast. Naruto was nodding off at the table. He looked around the room. His back faced a large window covered with white curtains. Sunlight poured in making the cluttered apartment bright and cheerful. The sounds of the pony-tailed man cooking filled the calm quiet of the room. It was nice, not to have to cook for once, even though Kakashi really should be the one standing over the stove.

Naruto was practically asleep with his head nearly touching the table. With a thud his body went limp and his forehead hit the surface. A soft snoring filled the room. Kakashi felt a smile on his lips and he stood. Walking around the dining room table he made his way into the small kitchen. Iruka-san had set the knee of his injured leg on the stool so he could stand in front of the oven.

"Naruto-kun fell asleep." Kakashi spoke after about a minute of watching the brunet. To be honest, he had enjoyed a small fantasy of sneaking up behind the scarred man and pulling his hair tie out. His mind briefly flitted to an image of him biting down on the side of the tan neck hard enough to sting but not enough to hurt. He shook that idea away before it could cause any trouble.

Iruka-san jumped slightly and turned quickly. "Kakashi-san! A little warning next time?" He asked his eyes wide and his breathing a little faster than it had been before.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Iruka-san shot Kakashi another smile but sadly, not the same, meaningful one from before. "It's fine." He replied and went back to scrambling eggs.

"Anything I can do to help?"

"You're the guest just relax." Iruka-san answered. Kakashi spied an onion resting on a cutting board and went to work. "You really don't have to." Iruka-san said quietly.

"I want to." Kakashi replied. Iruka-san kept his gaze on the eggs as he poured them into the sauce pan. But Kakashi saw that soft smile return to the scarred man's lips. The corners of his own mouth turned up in a matching expression.

* * *

Kakashi stepped in through the front door of his house. He felt a little lighter ever since eating breakfast at Iruka-sensei's house. A furry mass of noses, lolling tongues and fur welcomed him at the door he patted the many heads of his dogs and went up the stairs to shower. He checked the time and realized that it was 9:45.

After a quick shower Kakashi dried himself off and dressed in a fresh set of jeans a clean mask and a dark blue short sleeved shirt. He went to the kitchen. The clock in the microwave read 10:05. Itachi was looking over the contents of the refrigerator. Sasuke was most likely already in his usual spot on the couch reading. "Have you two eaten breakfast yet?" Kakashi asked. Itachi closed the refrigerator door and turned to face the masked man.

"We had some fruit."

"Are you still hungry?"

"Not really." Itachi answered. Despite his answer he was dropping a few slices of bread into the toaster. "You're not usually out so long." He commented after a moment.

"I bumped into Iruka-sensei this morning."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Kakashi took a moment to fill a glass of water. "Speaking of which." Kakashi remembered. "How would you feel about babysitting Naruto-kun? Iruka-sensei said that he'd pay you."

Itachi took a few seconds to think. "I suppose I wouldn't mind." He answered.

"Good." Kakashi nodded.

"When do you have to go into work?" Itachi asked.

"Noon. You're doing your rehearsal with Asuma-san today?" Kakashi asked. Itachi nodded. "I'll try to wrap my class up early so I can come and watch, then." The man concluded lowering his mask to take a sip of water.

Itachi was quiet for a moment. "You seem... Happier, Kakashi." He remarked.

"I do?" Kakashi asked turning to look at the dark teen.

Itachi nodded.

"Do I?" Kakashi hummed lightly and left the room ignoring the feeling of sharp, dark eyes boring into the back of his skull.

Sasuke, as expected, was sitting on his favorite side of the couch with the book he had bought last week in his hands, nearly at the last page. "I'm still hungry." Sasuke mentioned his dark eyes still moving across the page.

"Alright." Kakashi answered. "Sandwich?"

"Hn." Kakashi took that as a yes.

He scratched his scalp "By the way, Sasuke. Itachi will probably be looking after Naruto-kun every once in a while from now on." That caught the dark-haired boy's attention. Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Do you mind?"He asked.

After a long moment of Sasuke just stared at him. After a while, the boy turned his attention back to his book with another "Hn."

Kakashi walked back into the kitchen to make a sandwich.

* * *

_'What is the Hyuga boy trying to do? Break his fingers?'_ Kakashi wondered, watching the boy jab at the air with the three middle digits of his hand. Kakashi walked over and tried to explain that they were doing palm strikes, not pokes. Kakashi let Neji, who was now performing proper palm strikes with a surly look on his face.

Naruto-kun again stood next to Sasuke, this time of his own volition. Kakashi was a little worried. Iruka-sensei _'I probably should be calling him -san now.'_ He thought feeling a little bit of warmth rise in his stomach.

"Sensei? Can we move on? My arms are tired!" One of the children whined. Kakashi clapped his hands and told everyone to pair up. Most of the girls looked hopefully in Sasuke's direction except for the girl with the buns and Hinata-kun. He was pleased to see that Naruto-kun and Sasuke both looked at each other first. However, just a moment later they scowled and looked opposite directions. "Hey Teme..." Naruto-kun mumbled.

"Yeah." Sasuke muttered they faced one another.

"Alright, I'm going to teach you some new blocks." Kakashi announced to his class. I'm going to pick a strike and your partner on my left will perform it _slowly_ and _carefully. _We're _not_ aiming to hurt one another." He gave Kiba-kun, Naruto-kun and Sasuke all pointed looks. He looked for one of the taller children. "Ame-kun, mind helping me demonstrate?" The shy boy walked up. "Front kick me please..."

They carried on learning blocks. Kakashi stopping here and there to correct or tweak someone's stance or the position of their arms. With five minutes of the class left Kakashi concluded the class and told everyone to do their laps.

He looked out at the waiting area and was a little disappointed that when, after a moment, he didn't spot the familiar brunet ponytail. He caught sight of Naruto-kun looking out the window wall with a slightly confused look on his face.

When they were done the kids left the room with loud goodbyes. Kakashi looked the room over and followed their example. Naruto-kun was looking around, his confused eyes searching for the scarred man and turning confused when they didn't find him. There was a sag beginning to pull at his shoulders that Kakashi didn't really like the look of. The silver-haired man set a hand on one of them, startling the boy.

"I have something to discuss with Iruka-sensei. How about we wait together, Naruto-kun?" He suggested with his usual eye smile. Naruto-kun nodded after a moment.

"What about Itachi's set?" Sasuke asked.

"We'll see it on Monday." Kakashi answered. "Unless you'd like to go watch while I wait here with Naruto-kun?" Sasuke frowned and walked down the hallway to Asuma's room.

"Iruka-sensei said he'd be going to the doctors today. For his leg." Naruto-kun mentioned after a quiet moment.

"They probably put him on crutches then." Kakashi stated.

"Hm? Yeah, so?" Naruto asked

"He's probably not getting around very fast." Kakashi stated, turning to face the doors.

"Sensei?"

"Hm?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead."

"Why is Sasuke like that?"

"What do you mean?" Kakashi asked.

"Why's he so quiet all the time? He always looks like he's either mad or nothing at all." Naruto-kun looked honestly troubled.

Kakashi looked down at the boy considering him. Making his decision he sat in one of the chairs. "If you found out. What would you do about it?" Kakashi asked. watching the boy blankly.

Without batting an eye Naruto answered "I'd find a way ta fix it!"

"If it wasn't something anyone could fix?" Kakashi asked.

"It's really something that bad?" Naruto-kun's eyes went wide.

"It is."

"Then I'd find a way ta help him!" Naruto-kun's eyes glinted with determination. Kakashi, slightly taken aback was quiet for a moment.

"I see." Kakashi answered. _'For a moment you seemed like someone familiar.'_ Kakashi mused considering the ten year old standing before him. Naruto kept looking down the hallway that Sasuke had taken to Asuma's room. "Would you like to go watch Itachi's set with him?" Kakashi asked after a moment.

"But, Iruka-sensei..."

"I can wait in here. If he comes while you're gone, we'll come and find you." Kakashi answered.

Naruto-kun smiled wide. "Y'know sensei, you're a lot nicer than the other kids say you are!" _'Well that's a rather backhanded complement.'_ Kakashi thought flatly. Naruto-kun scampered off in the direction the other boy had gone and Kakashi continued to wait for the brunet.

More than anything he wanted to make sure he hadn't caused too much damage. _'Road rash on head, right arm and leg. A sprained ankle and probably a mild concussion...' _His brain reminded. _'Shit... I'll apologize properly. Should I invite him to dinner sometime this week, maybe?' _Kakashi wondered.

_'Why did he lie when Naruto-kun asked what had happened?' _That was the big question.

Kakashi vaguely registered the sound of the front door opening. He turned his head and there stood a familiar pony-tailed man who now resembled half a mummy with bandages wrapped around his head and arms to hold on the gauze pads. A crutch was held underneath his arm and he held his injured foot up. Kakashi felt amusement bubble up in his chest before it was quashed by a heavy sense of guilt. He was looking around with an increasingly confused expression on his handsome face. "Iruka-san." Kakashi spoke calling for the other man's attention.

"Kakashi-se-" He broke off and looked as if he were just realizing something. "Kakashi-san." He smiled. It dropped a little as his eyes searched the corners of the room. "Where's Naruto?"

"He's with Sasuke." Kakashi answered pulling himself out of his chair. "Follow me?" He asked

Iruka-san nodded and followed behind. "Sorry that I'm so late. The doctor took a little longer to see me than I expected." He spoke.

"That's a nice wrapping job." Kakashi commented lightly. _'Couldn't resist.'_

Iruka's responding tone was embarrassed. "I think my nurse was still in training. Eheh..." Kakashi could picture the man scratching at his scar.

The masked man stopped and turned. "You'll be alright, won't you?"

Iruka-san looked surprised for a moment. "Um, yeah. I'm fine." A small smile quirked at the corner of his lips. "My doctor said that my scrapes and bruises should heal completely in the next couple weeks." Iruka-san answered. "My ankle should be fine in a few days."

"I'm glad to hear it." Kakashi replied. Genuinely relieved, if only a little.

They stopped in front of Asuma's door just in time for the bearded man to call Itachi's name. Kakashi peered inside. Itachi stood and began his set. The boy was amazing. He moved fluidly but almost unpredictably, even to Kakashi who had done this years before him.

"He's amazing." Iruka-san whispered from beside the masked man.

"He is." Kakashi agreed. He caught sight of the two boys sitting on the sidelines. Naruto-kun with a certain determined glow to his eyes now. Sasuke, with a look on his face that was obvious to anyone who knew him was an expression of stifled envy and annoyance.

After Itachi was done, Asuma's class was finished and Itachi made his way towards the door. "Iruka-sensei, what happened to you?" Itachi asked a little alarm working it's way into his voice when he caught sight of the grade school teacher.

"Oh, it's nothing. I fell." Iruka-san answered. _'Again?' _Kakashi wondered eying the man standing beside him.

"You fell?" Itachi repeated skeptically.

"Didn't I tell you that I ran into Iruka-sensei earlier today?" Kakashi asked.

Itachi directed a hard stare in his guardian's direction. "You never said literally." Itachi answered. It looked like he wanted to roll his eyes but the teenager was keeping them steady by sheer willpower alone.

"I hope you'll be alright." Itachi said.

Iruka smiled. "I'll be good as new in a few weeks. Thank you though."

"Iruka-sensei! You look like a mummy!" A rough young voice declared.

"Thanks Naruto." Iruka replied flatly. "Oh Itachi-kun." he spoke. "I'm not sure if Kakashi-san-" Itachi's face showed a small amount of surprise at the change of honorifics. Kakashi didn't miss his reaction. "-told you yet, but I was wondering if you're interested in a babysitting job?" Itachi gave the masked man a look out of the corner of his eye.

"I am." Itachi answered.

"I'm glad to hear it!" Iruka addressed Kakashi. "Should we exchange numbers?" He asked.

Kakashi felt a pleasant squirm in his stomach. "Yeah..." He answered. They recited their numbers to one another.

"I'm not a baby!" Naruto-kun protested.

"No, but you're still too young to be left on your own." Iruka-san answered. Naruto-kun scowled.

"Look at the bright side." Kakashi said lightly. "At least you'll have Sasuke around to play with."

Naruto-kun, apparently hadn't thought of that. _'A little slow, aren't you?' _Kakashi mused watching the little blonde as he turned his head to look at the masked man's ward.

Sasuke looked back at him. "Hmph. I guess..." Naruto-kun said after a moment folding his arms over his chest. He didn't look nearly as annoyed as he probably tried to seem.

Kakashi suppressed a small smirk.

"Well, Naruto, do you think we're ready to go?" Iruka-san asked.

"Yep." The little blonde replied.

"I guess I'll see you on Tuesday then." Iruka-san said to Kakashi with a smile.

_'Do it. Do it. .'_ He turned just in time to see Iruka-san's back disappearing through the exit. _'Damnit.'_ Kakashi sighed internally. He turned back to the boys saying. "I'm going to go get changed. Meet you by the front doors?" Itachi nodded.

* * *

Again I'm so sorry. This chapter feels kind of weak to me. Speaking of weak writing, I may eventually go back and revise my past chapters. I won't do anything drastic. Just fix some grammar, spelling and punctuation errors and try to make the dialogue flow better. The thing is I know I can write much better than this. I'm going to work harder to bring you guys a good story.


	11. Chapter 11

I'm sleepy. I have to shift my sleep schedule over because I'll be working regular hours during the day. Hopefully I can still keep updates coming quickly, if not, then I'll probably let you guys know when to expect it.

**Warning: Holy shit! I'm actually writing a smut scene this chapter! I'll put up a warning before it starts since it pops up a bit suddenly. It's more of a smutlette/lime scene.**

* * *

Chapter 11: Flashbacks and Steamy Showers

The rest of Saturday passed by uneventfully.

Sunday was a moderately different story.

"EEEEW!" Naruto cried when he walked in on Iruka peeling off the bandages that covered his wounds.

"Naruto quiet down a bit." Iruka winced at the volume and then a few seconds later when he pulled off a gauze pad that was slightly more reluctant to un-stick itself from the abrasion on his knee. _'The nurse said to replace it often. Tsss! Ow fuck!' _Iruka smeared more antibiotic ointment over his scrapes and covered them again, all while Naruto was making retching noises and claiming that he was going to puke.

"Well if it grosses you out that much go somewhere else!" Iruka yelled at the end of his patience.

Naruto went quiet but he continued watching, absolutely fascinated. Iruka couldn't help the small smirk. Instead of wrapping half his body up in gauze like the nurse had yesterday he decided to go with just the medical tape and large bandages. "Naruto, mind helping me with this one?" Iruka asked turning on his seat on the toilet and presenting his bruised and scraped arm to the boy. The blonde's nose wrinkled in disgust but his eyes widened in curiosity. It was actually a pretty cute expression. Naruto walked over to him. "Just put on the bandage for me." Iruka stated holding the aforementioned bandage out to the little blonde.

"Mhm." Naruto nodded staring at the wound determinedly. He reached for the slip of adhesive fabric.

"Are your hands clean?" Iruka asked as an afterthought pulling the arm holding the bandage away from Naruto's. The boy froze.

"Oh, um. Yeah." The little blonde nodded.

"Really?"

"Yeah!"

"Alright then." Iruka said sitting still. Naruto carefully peeled the wax paper off the back of it. With the expression of a rookie field medic in a war movie he gingerly smoothed the strip of cloth over the wound.

"It's all gooey." He stated his nose wrinkling again and his skin turning a little green.

"That's the antibiotic ointment." Iruka stated. "Nothing too gross."

"Does it hurt?"

"Not too badly." The brunet answered with a small smile. He checked Naruto's handiwork as best as he could at the odd angle and decided that the boy had done a satisfactory job. He pulled on his shirt over his head.

"Sensei, did you really fall?" Naruto asked.

"... Well I kind of ran into Kakashi-sensei." Iruka was sure to add on the honorific.

"Hmmmmm..." Naruto's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"C'mon, let's go eat breakfast." Iruka commanded trying to steer Naruto off of the topic of his injuries and using the support of his crutch to stand. _'Truth be told I'm not exactly certain myself about what happened.'_ Iruka mused hobbling to the kitchen to make something for breakfast. _'Could he have really knocked me that far back just by running into me?' _He wondered remembering the way Kakashi-san had carried all of those shopping bags less than a week ago, seemingly without any effort.

Sunday passed by reasonably quickly. Iruka ran errands while Naruto tried his best to find entertaining things to do as he accompanied the scarred man. _'Honestly, If he had friends he'd probably be over at their house today.' _Iruka sighed internally. His mood brightened slightly when he remembered Sasuke-kun. _'Should I organize a play date?'_ He wondered taking a can of lichees down from the shelf. _'That's really something someone does for younger children though.'_ He placed it in the cart. _'Maybe I should make plans this week with Izumo and Kotetsu to give Naruto an excuse to be babysat by Itachi?'_

His mind flickered to the phone number now listed in his contacts. _'Is it a little creepy that I already have most of it memorized?'_ he wondered. _'Yes Iruka, yes, it is.' _Sighing and unintentionally staring wistfully at a jar of pickles he wondered just why was he attracted to Kakashi-san. _'I don't even know what his face looks like.'_

_'He's freakishly strong.'_

_''Freakish' is not a word we use.'_

_'For God's sake you don't live in a classroom get a hold of yourself!' _He shook his head slightly.

_'I guess I like his voice.'_

_'It's kind of deep. Smooth. Calming.' _He sighed, earning a slightly anxious look from a middle-aged woman pushing her cart past him._'I like the way he says my name.'_

_'In the bathroom his eyes, well eye actually, was so... intense. It felt good to be looked at like that.'_

_'I feel happy when he's around.'_

_'Yeah, but_ why?_'_

"Iruka-sensei, what's next on the list?" Naruto asked after a moment.

Iruka jumped slightly. "Oh, Sorry Naruto." He apologized and read off the next item on their shopping list. He followed Naruto who was pushing the cart for him. Funny how difficult it was to do everything when you take one limb out of the equation. _'His body's nice. It's easy to see he takes care of himself.' _He felt a spark of heat in his body at the memory of the feel of the strong shoulders his harm had been wrapped around and the firm thigh that would occasionally bumped his on their ay back to his apartment yesterday.

_'You're turning into a creepy old man, Iruka. Stop it.' _Iruka's brain scolded him.

_'Yeah I know.' _Another pat of it sighed, apatheticaly.

_'You don't know the first thing about him.'_

_'You're right, I don't.'_

_'It's not like you nearly kissed or anything! He probably just thought he saw something in your eye yesterday morning and you took it for something else.'_

_'Yeah.'_

_'He's probably married anyways.'_

_'That's right, he probably is. He has two sons after all.'_

_'So what if you didn't see a ring?'_

_'Yeah, so what?'_

_'Not like you have the balls to do anything about it if he were single anyways.'_

_'Ouch, that hurt.'_

_'Whatever, I thought this was just a little thing anyways.'_

_'It is.'_

_'So it'll stop here?'_

_'Yes, it has to. It has to stop here.'_

_'Why?'_ A small, niggling voice asked from the back of his mind.

_'Shut up, no one asked you.'_

_'Stop arguing with yourself Iruka!'_

The checkout lady and Naruto were both giving him odd looks. She was eying his bandages and bruises with a slightly curious expression and Naruto was glaring suspiciously at him. "Oh my, are you alright? What happened?" She asked her wrinkled hands at work scanning the items on the conveyor belt quickly.

"I got into a little running accident." Iruka answered.

"You got all of that from running?" She asked.

"I believe so." Iruka answered.

"Oh well," She said after a brief pause Iruka chose not to fill with an explanation for his wounds her face darkened the slightest bit at the denial of a straight answer. "Be careful next time, then." Her tone seemed a little more clipped than it had been before.

"Thank you, I'll be sure to be more careful in the future." Iruka answered with a smile that was about as real as the old checkout lady's red head of hair.

"Your total comes to 70.86 ryou. Do you have our rewards card?"

"I do." He handed the card to the old woman and scanned his debit card.

"Iruka-san?" A familiar voice spoke. The brunet turned finding messy black-haired workmate of his standing behind him in the line.

"Kotetsu-san?"

"I thought it was you! Jesus, what happened?" He asked his eyes widening in concern.

"I got into a running accident." Iruka repeated taking back his discount card and punching in his pin number.

"All of that from running?"

_'Maybe I should write everything down and hand out pamphlets.' _Iruka's grumpy brain grumbled. "Yep."

"He said my karate teacher ran into him." Naruto stated crossing his arms with a doubtful frown. "Kaka-sensei's strong, yeah, but he's not that strong, Iruka-sensei!"

_'Thank you, Naruto.' _"I should be fine in a few weeks. The ankle should be healed in a week or so." Iruka answered.

Kotetsu-san let out a sympathetic hiss. "Are you going to take any time off?" He began setting the items on the conveyor belt which the old woman scanned. She was obviously listening in on their conversation but trying to pretend that she wasn't. _'Old gossip.'_ His brain grumbled.

"No, my ankle already feels better. All I have to do is keep my weight off of it and I'll be fine." Iruka said.

"Ya sure?" Kotetsu-san asked grabbing his single bag of groceries. The three males walked towards the door.

"Yeah." The brunet answered. "So how's Izumo-san?"

"He's good. It's been a bit of an adjustment living together but I think it's working out good for us." Kotetsu-san answered.

Two years ago Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san had been awkwardly dancing around a mutual attraction. They'd been lifelong friends and Izumo-san, at far as he had told Iruka, had begun feeling a little more for Kotetsu-san in their final year of high school.

~{ This Is A Flashback, Yo WUBWUBWUB (No Smut Yet!) }~

The three sensei's sat in their shared office. Sun and muffled sounds of children's joyful squeals poured in through the large windows but did nothing to disrupt the incredible amount of tension in the stuffy room. Izumo-san was marking his papers with the look of someone attending his best friend's funeral. However, since his best friend was sitting in the office space right next to his, it was pretty obvious that that was not the case. Iruka, sitting at the desk on the other side of Kotetsu-san, tried his best to keep his mind off the rigid set of the goateed man's shoulders and the way he'd suddenly stop writing and twiddle his pen in his hands in a nervous habit.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Kotetsu-san's heel collided with the floor.

Izumo-san kept sighing every thirty seconds and Iruka noticed that he was still staring at the same page of paper that he'd started on twenty minutes ago.

"THAT'S IT!" Iruka yelled losing his patience and bolting upright. Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san jumped giving Iruka a surprised look. He glared at both of them, slightly satisfied when they cowered underneath his gaze. "Now I'm not entirely sure of what's gone on between the two of you but I know for damn sure that this is far from normal!" He stated in a quieter, but no less menacing, tone. "It was plain for anyone to see you're both head over heels for one another months ago!" Both of the other men's eyes widened and they looked at each other. "You're probably both worrying about ruining you're friendship. Right?" They both continued to stare at him. "RIGHT!?" They jumped and nodded hurriedly. Izumo-san who sat behind Kotetsu seemed momentarily surprised at the other man's reaction. "Well then grow some balls and tell one another about your feelings! Because your friendship is falling apart right now!" Iruka cried gathering what he'd been working on, stuffing it into his bag and leaving the room.

A week later Iruka had caught his two co-workers in a very compromising position on Izumo-san's desk. He turned around and facing out of the door he'd just entered from he said through a bright red blush "I'm glad you guys resolved things. But if you ever try anything on my desk, I'll kill both of you."

They'd been dating ever since, occasionally they'd invite him and Naruto over for dinner or just ask Iruka out to have some drinks after work on Fridays. Most of the time he declined the latter but the one time he had accepted they tried to set him up with one of their old college buddies.

o0( Two Flashbacks In One! )0o

"Hi there." The man rolled his toothpick around his mouth and looked Iruka-san up and down, not seeming the slightest bit impressed.

"Hey, My name's Iruka." He replied, not terribly interested either but at least trying to be plite about it. Izumo-san had nagged him into this while Kotetsu-san had been as irritating as possible until Iruka had finally caved.

"Genma."

"Nice to meet you." Iruka was already bored with this it looked like the other man was too. "You went to college with those two." He stated a moment later.

"Yep I was a Junior when they came in their freshman year I was the guy in charge of keeping the dorms under control. So they finally got together huh? About time."

"Yeah. The few months before they did were awful though." Iruka said becoming somewhat interested.

Genma-san smirked. "I bet they danced around it until someone knocked some sense into them."

"You'd be right." Iruka stated with a smile walking over to the bar. He felt eyes raking over his back. He didn't turn or comment on it. Iruka had been looking himself after all.

"So... You're a teacher... How's that doing for ya?" Genma-san asked after Iruka had ordered them a bottle of sake.

There was a pause where Iruka just stared at the other man. "Pfft. Sorry this is too awkward." Iruka snorted. "C'mon let's just drink for a little while, I've got to go back home soon to put my kid to bed." He thanked the barman as he placed the ceramic bottle and two cups on the bar.

Genma-san gave a genuine smirk and clapped Iruka on the shoulder. "I like the way you think, Sensei." He said. "You have a kid?" He asked a moment later.

"Yeah. His name is Naruto."

"Nice name." Genma-san commented sarcastically.

"Nice bandana." Iruka retorted after taking a sip of his sake and his eyes flickering up to the backwards head garment.

Genma-san held up his hands defensively, a smile on his lips. "I'll have you know my bandana's very fashionable." He said. Then he rested his folded arms on the bar. His chin propped up on the palm of one hand. His toothpick spun at the corner of his lips. "You're a bit more interesting than I'd thought you'd be." He commented casually.

"Too bad I can't say the same for you." Iruka snorted jokingly rolling his eyes and taking another sip of sake.

"You wound me, Sensei." Genma-san sighed over-dramatically.

Iruka choked on the alcohol due to another laugh. "You two look like you're getting along." Kotetsu-san stated coming up behind them and wrapping each of his arms around their shoulders. Iruka wasn't entirely sure but he thought he saw Genma-san stiffen and his eyes turn a little darker for a few brief seconds. But a moment later the man with the toothpick in his mouth smiled. "Does it really look that way to you Ko-chan? Iruka-sensei was just telling me about how boring he finds me."

"Iruka-san." Kotetsu-san frowned at the pony-tailed man. His breath smelled heavilly of liquor.

"Oh yeah, horribly boring." Iruka grinned. "I can't wait until this is over."

"Well shit." Kotetsu-san cursed. There was a beeping from Iruka's pocket and he pulled out his phone. He'd set the alarm for thirty minutes before he'd have to leave.

"Gotta go?" Genma-san asked.

"Not quite yet. I have a half an hour." He set down his empty sake cup and pushed his phone back into his pocket.

"So why'd you name your kid 'fish cake'?" Genma-san asked with a raised eyebrow.

"I adopted him. His birth parents named him that. But frankly when I think about it no other name really suits him." He muttered the last sentence more to himself than to Genma-san. He was surprised that the other man had heard what he'd said

"Why? Does he smell like fish?"

"What's with all the sudden interest in my nine-year old kid?" Iruka asked jokingly with a smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"So defensive, Sensei." Genma-san grinned.

Iruka chuckled and folded his arms on the bar. "So it sounds like those two" He jerked his head in Izumo-san's and Kotetsu-san's general direction. "Told you a lot about me." He said.

"I'm sure they had only good things to say about me." Genma-san stated.

"If by good you mean that you were able to drink a keg of beer by yourself and not die of alcohol poisoning, then yes." Iruka answered.

"I'm pretty sure that I could chug more than that." Genma-san replied looking a little put out. Iruka laughed. "Anyways, I'm an acupuncturist at Konoha Pain and Wellness Management down on East street." He answered. Iruka knew the general area and nodded. "I'm also a pretty damn good masseuse. Drop by and I'll give ya a discount." Genma-san leered holding up his hands and wiggling his fingers with a playful glint in his eye. Now Iruka could tell the difference between serious flirting and flirting just for fun. Genma-san seemed to enjoy doing the latter.

Iruka chuckled and brushed it off with a grin "Oh, but I'd much rather be poked than a massage any day, Genma-san." He replied teasingly.

Genma-san froze for a moment staring at the grade school teacher, his mouth slightly open. _'Did I go too far with that one?'_ Iruka wondered getting a little nervous. Then Genma-san burst out laughing, his toothpick falling to the floor "Kami-sama, we have to be friends!" He stated. "Here, give me your number." He pulled out his phone.

~{ Yo! The Flashback Be Over! }~

They'd been friends ever since. When either of them had the time one would call the other and organize something. Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san had been disappointed that he and the bandana'd man hadn't hit it off quite as they'd planned but a few weeks after they'd first met, Genma-san had began dating a man named Raido and they still seemed pretty happy together. Iruka hummed "I'm glad to hear you two are getting along." He stated.

"You dating anyone?" Kotetsu-san asked. Iruka felt a spike of anxiety. He tried to see if Naruto was listening in, but the boy was zooming around riding on the back of the shopping cart. "Naruto! Be careful!" Iruka cried.

"You still haven't told him you're gay?" Kotetsu-san asked.

Iruka sighed "I plan on telling him eventually. I just... I don't know."

Kotetsu-san bit his lip then stated. "Dude, he's not going to care. He's ten. But if you wait too long he's going to be pissed that you didn't tell him earlier."

Iruka-san frowned. "You're right" He sighed. "For once." He said smirking.

"What's that supposed to mean!?" Kotetsu-san demanded. "Izumo's not the only one with answers y'know!" He added.

Iruka laughed but stopped when he recognized the sensation of being watched.

"Anyways you didn't answer my question earlier." Kotetsu-san answered. They stopped behind Iruka's car. Naruto was trying to find the heaviest bag of the bunch and Iruka was digging in his pockets for his keys to open the trunk.

"What was that?" Iruka asked distractedly.

"I asked if you were seeing anyone." Kotetsu-san asked with an air of impatience.

"You know I'm not." Iruka stated. Getting frustrated with his fruitless search. "Naruto, did I give you my keys for some random reason?" Iruka asked.

"No."

"Damn it." Iruka grumbled dropping his hand.

"Come out with us on Wednesday. Izumo said he met someone he thinks you'll like."

"Kotetsu-san I really appreciate it but-"

"Excuse me." A smooth, low voice said from out of sight. Iruka turned and his throat went dry. Kakashi-san stood there in a tight black tank top that attached to his mask. Dark blue shorts ended just above the knees adorned his legs. One thing Iruka hadn't noticed before was the fact that Kakashi-san was _built_.

He tore his eyes away from the barely concealed chest a male model would kill for and spoke softly "Kakashi-san."

"Kakashi-sensei what're you doing here!?" Naruto hollered.

"I was just running through the neighborhood and I happened to notice you dropped your keys." Kakashi-san held up the clanking little bundle of metal.

"Oh, thank you." Iruka said walking forward and taking the keys. "It sort of feels like this town's shrunk in the past week." Iruka joked with a nervous chuckle.

Kakashi-san looked a little puzzled. "How do you mean?"

"Well we're beginning to see you everywhere." _'Not that I have any complaints. Especially when you're dressed like this.' _

"Ahem." Kotetsu-san cleared his throat.

"Oh, right, sorry." Iruka apologized. "Kotetsu-san, this is Naruto's Karate instructor Kakashi-san." He turned his attention to the masked man "Kakashi-san, this is my friend Kotetsu Hagane-san." He said stepping aside to better present his workmate.

"Hello." Kakashi-san greeted the darker haired male politely. His tone was a little off from his usual friendly manner. Iruka wondered why.

"Hey." Kotetsu-san greeted. "Heard you got into a bit of an accident with Iruka-san."

"I'm afraid so." Kakashi-san replied.

"What? Really!? How the hell did you do all this!?" Naruto asked. "I mean we spent like, an hour putting on new band-aids this morning!"

A flicker of something Iruka didn't like passed through the single dark eye. "You're exaggerating Naruto." Iruka said. "And watch your language."

"I should get going." Kakashi-san stated.

"Oh, alright." Iruka said with a small pang of disappointment in his stomach. "Have good day." He said.

"You too." Kakashi-san said. His voice was casual, but what little Iruka of his expression was a little softer. A smile tugged at Iruka's lips. "Um, actually, before I forget." Kakashi-san said turning back. "I was wondering if you'd like to come over dinner some time this week. I feel like I didn't apologize properly before." Kakashi-san watched Iruka.

"Um... yeah. That. That sounds good." _'Good job at making the words go, Iruka!' _His mind mocked him. "Naruto?" Iruka asked looking behind himself.

"Is Sasuke-teme gonna be there?" The little blonde asked.

"Most likely." Kakashi-san replied.

"Hmph. Fine." Naruto said frowning and crossing his arms over his head but it didn't take a genius to tell he was nowhere near as reluctant to go as he was acting.

Kakashi-san turned to go. Iruka watched him leave fascinated by the movements of the muscles beneath the skin-tight shirt._ 'For God's sake pick your jaw up off the ground. What are you, 15 again?' _Iruka felt a blush heat his face and he turned quickly to unlock the trunk of his car.

"Now I see." Kotetsu-san's voice held a ring of amusement to it.

"Kotetsu-san..." Iruka trailed off giving the man a warning look.

"I'm not going to say anything." Kotetsu-san replied holding his hands in front of himself. "Call us if you have any free time during the week, Iruka-san." His shit-eating grin said it all. He nudged Iruka in the ribs with his elbow and laughed as he walked off. Iruka rolled his eyes and Naruto helped him put everything away. The rest of the Sunday was uneventful. Iruka stared at the number in his contacts wondering if it was alright to call until he remembered he had work to do. Iruka's frantic last-minute grading of his classes history tests stretched until nearly one in the morning.

"I have to get up in four hours." He sighed glaring blearily at the clock hanging on his living room wall.

"'Ruka?" Naruto's sleepy voice called from the hallway.

"What is it Naruto?"

"Why're you up?" He asked rubbing an eye with an open palm.

"Hah~ Just finishing up some work. Go on back to bed." Iruka sighed and took hold of his crutch, using it to stand. He brushed his teeth changed into his pajamas and fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow

* * *

The next morning Iruka woke and rolled over with a groan in an attempt to shield his face from the sunlight pouring through his window. He grunted softly as he noticed a familiar uncomfortable tightness around his groin was jostled by his movement. He rolled onto his back again and squinted irritably up at the ceiling. "Ow." He muttered as the throbbing became uncomfortable. Sighing he sat up in his bed and looked over at the clock. 4:15AM it read in painfully bright red pixels.

"Mmn." He stretched his arms upwards and carefully got out of bed. He tested his weight on his ankle. It still hurt but if he kept most of his weight on his other leg he wouldn't have to take his crutch into the shower with him. He shuffled sleepily to the bathroom where he closed and locked the door behind him. He shed his clothes and turned on the shower. He waited for it to warm before stepping inside.

~{ Explicit Scene (Gasp!) }~

This was bad. He was halfway through his shower and it still wouldn't go down. _'Damnit.'_ He thought. Peering out from behind the shower curtain he looked at the clock. 4:25AM. He closed the curtain again and took hold of himself, leaning back against the cool shower wall. He hissed as the pressure from his hand sent small waves of pleasure humming throughout his groin. _'Well at least this won't take terribly long.' _He thought wryly. Squeezing and stroking the rigid red flesh he groaned and closed his eyes as his head rolled back against the wall. The feel of the cold tile against his back sent chills up and down his heated body. The damp heaviness of the warm air around him filled his lungs and he imagined that the air was like that due to the closeness of another body even if the illusion was weak the thought spurred his arousal on. He envisioned a faceless, nameless male figure standing in front of him with their hand on his erection rather than his own, stroking and toying with the tip, he groaned a little louder as he traced a finger along the slit. His other hand slid down his chest and between his legs to massage his perineum. He choked softly on a moan as he began to teasingly run two fingers over the skin between his entrance and his balls.

The brunet pictured his imaginary lover pushing him gently but insistently against the wall, a stubbled chin, lips and a straight nose pressing where his shoulder and neck met. He wanted to be kissed, but of course, no lips appeared to press against his. He settled for biting his lip as his strokes quickened. He began to pant softly and his eyes crunched shut in pained pleasure. His mind's eye provided him with an image of wild silver hair brushing against his chin as a skilled set of lips, teeth and tongue toyed with his nipple and a pair of strong pale hands massaged his cock and ass. But it wasn't enough. He slipped a finger inside of himself panting with small, soft whimpers as he curled it and quickly found the spot that made pleasure surge like lingering static through his groin and up his spine.

"Nn. Ah!" Iruka cried as, finally, his erection spilled itself across the shower floor. Again he wanted to be kissed. He wanted someone to hold him steady against the wall to wrap his arms around their shoulders until his legs regained their strength.

~{ No More Explicit Content For You! (Aaawww!) Alright, For Now! (Yaaay!) }~

When he'd recovered he shook his head. "I just jerked off to my kid's teacher, how cliché is that?" He muttered to himself chuckling slightly. A strong sense of loneliness rose in his chest. Iruka suppressed it fiercely before it could grow anymore. He rinsed himself off and quickly finished washing up before stepping out into the bathroom.

Examining his bandages he noticed a few were falling off. He promptly dried himself off, re-wrapped his ankle, replaced the useless bandages and tied a towel around his waist before heading out of the bathroom. He got dressed quickly.

Naruto mumbled sleepily when Iruka tried to wake him. "Come on Naruto, you can sleep in the car, okay?" Iruka said jostling the little boy.

"'s early..." Naruto grumbled into his pillow.

"I have before-school care shift this week, remember?" Iruka stated. Slowly, he managed to coax the boy out of bed. Soon enough they were out the door and on their way to school. All the time Iruka trying to forget what happened in the shower.

* * *

Children chattering, paper rustling, something falling, handing out little prepackaged trays with milk and cereal in them. It felt good to be back in his element after such a long and strange weekend. The room was pretty quiet for the most part. Most of the kids were barely awake yet, especially the younger ones, most of whom were crashed out on the ugly blue shag rug covered in old donated pillows and bean bag chairs. Naruto and Shikamaru were the only older kids lying among them, the blonde snoring softly and mumbling away. Iruka partially wished that he could join them in dreamland but then again that meant leaving the run of the room to Kiba, Lee, Choji, Neji, Hinata and Shino. He wasn't too concerned about the third, fourth, fifth and sixth members of that list getting into too much trouble. It was the first two that tended to cause the most mayhem when Naruto himself wasn't around to stir it up on his own.

'Yip!'

"Yip?" Iruka mumbled. His baggy, bloodshot eyes slowly pulled themselves to look downwards at his foot for the source of the noise. A small white puppy sat there wagging its tail. He held his hand down for it to sniff, then picked it up. With an exasperated sigh he called out. "Kiba!"

The dark-haired little boy poked his head around the end of a shelf, well aware of Iruka's infamous temper which he had been on the receiving end of many times. Frankly Iruka was too tired to give a rat's ass about an offense that had been made so many times. He was scolding the boy mainly out of habit now.

He picked up his crutch, holding _'Akamichi? Akagure?'_ in his other arm and hobbled over towards where Kiba stood, ready to be chastised with a defiant look on his face.

"Kiba, If you don't stop bringing him here he might wind up hurt." Iruka sighed.

"No he won't! Akamaru's tough! Right boy?" Kiba exclaimed. Akamaru yipped, seemingly in the affirmative. Iruka silenced them both with a cross look.

"It's not just Akamaru who might get hurt." The boy looked like he was about to protest Iruka shot him another look. "Some kids here have allergies to dogs. It's no one's fault, but Akamaru needs to stay at home from now on, alright?" Iruka said.

"Okay..." Kiba mumbled dejectedly after a few moments.

"Alright, now let's go call your mom and see if she'll come and pick him up for us." Kiba nodded. They passed the small table where the other children sat.

"K-k-Kiba, a-are you in t-trouble?" Hinata asked, her large, pale lavender eyes were wide and fearful.

"Of course he is. Why? Because he brought that mutt-" Shino began.

"Shut up! It's better than you and your creepy bug obsession!" Kiba snarled. Akamaru yipped angrily from Iruka's arms in agreement.

"Settle down and Kiba, and don't say shut up." Iruka scolded them. "Let's go." He said shepherding the dark-haired boy from the room. He just stepped out of the door and discovered the very man he least wanted to see that morning. _'Well this is very uncomfortable.'_ Iruka thought, feeling blood already filling his cheeks as the dark eye turned to focus on him.

* * *

They really need more synonyms for 'bandage' in the English language.

So I worked long and hard. Turns out that the writer's block I was experiencing was just a dam that was waiting to burst! I haven't written this much in a single day as long as I can remember. Please tell me how I did (especially with the smut scene)


	12. Chapter 12

I should have done this earlier but I'm going to try working on another fic while I'm still working on this one. Maybe that will get some of the creative juices flowing, as you might have noticed my updates have been coming farther appart. I'm a little stumped, I know where I want to go but I'm not entirely sure how to get there. I think I'll do a Beelzebub fic that's been bouncing around my head for a while. By the way, updates to this story may soon become a once a week thing.

Key: Text messages are in **BOLD**

* * *

Chapter 12: Shutting Out and Surprising Nights

It was a reasonably normal morning. Kakashi rose first at four. Two hours later after a brief run and wakling the dogs he'd wake the boys up if they weren't already. First Sasuke then Itachi. He'd start on breakfast -oatmeal and apples- Then go upstairs after both adolescents came down to take a shower in the bathroom attached to his bedroom. After everyone was ready, they'd leave the house for school and work. This was their morning routine.

Kakashi walked his younger ward to room 8b even though Sasuke insisted many times that he could go on his own. They were just approaching the small classroom when a familiar dark-haired boy with red triangles on his face stepped out, followed by a rather exhausted-looking pony-tailed man. Something small white and hairy wriggled under the arm he held close to his chest. _'A dog?'_ As soon as the scarred man spotted Kakashi it looked like his face was about to burst into flames. "Um, Hi, Kakashi-san, Itachi-kun, Sasuke-kun." He greeted. His dark eyes rested anywhere but on Kakashi. _'Did I say something wrong yesterday?' _The masked man wondered after a moment of observing the teacher's reaction.

"Good Morning," He replied. Sasuke grunted a greeting then walked into 8b without another word.

"Good morning, Sensei" Itachi nodded his head in the pony-tailed man's direction.

"What're you doing here!?" Kiba-kun asked in a way that reminded the three older males of a small blonde boy of the same age. The boy looked Kakashi up and down in amazement as if it were the strangest thing in the world that Kakashi hadn't come to drop his ward off in his karate gi.

_'I don't live in the karate dojo, you know.' _Kakashi brooded. He opted for a more polite verbal response. "I'm here to drop off Sasuke. What a coincidence that you go to the same school." He replied. His eye turning up in a smile.

"You're Sasuke's dad!?" Kiba-kun asked loudly.

"Kiba-kun, volume, you'll wake the others up." Iruka-san hushed.

"Oh, sorry Sensei."

Kiba returned his attention to the masked man "You're Sasuke's dad?" He asked in a lower voice.

"Well... not exactly." Kakashi answered. He saw movement from Iruka-san. The scarred man looked surprised and the color in his face faded a little.

"Well then what are you?" Kiba-kun demanded.

"Kiba-kun, it's rude to pry into other people's business." Iruka-san scolded. "Anyways, we have to go call your mom." The puppy whimpered and the boy scowled. But he followed behind Iruka-san as they left.

"I'll see you around, Kakashi-san." Iruka-san stated softly avoiding eye contact. His face flushed scarlet again.

"Iruka-san." Kakashi called after a few seconds.

"Hm?" Iruka-san asked turning his head to look at Kakashi.

"I was wondering if you'd like to come have that dinner with us tonight?" Kakashi asked. _'There.'_

Iruka-san's eyes widened but after a few seconds he nodded. "We'd be happy to." Kakashi's stomach made a pleased flip-flopping sensation that he did his best to not allow to show on his face.

"Great, I'll text you the address later today?" The masked man asked.

Iruka-san smiled the slightest bit and nodded. "Okay."

* * *

In the car Itachi kept shooting him looks "Are you and Iruka-sensei-"

"So Itachi, hear anything from Yahiko-san recently?" Kakashi interrupted him. Itachi's face remained as stoic as ever but his hands began fiddling with the fabric of his pant-leg.

"Please don't avoid the question." Itachi said quietly. Kakashi wondered about the sudden change in the atmosphere in the car. "You're supposed to be our parent even though all you do is shut Sasuke and I out." His voice was steady but it was low and serious.

Kakashi sighed internally. "We're not involved like that." He answered after a long, quiet moment.

"But you'd like to be, wouldn't you?"

"..."

"Three years and you never thought it would be necessary to tell us you were-"

"Bisexual, Itachi. I'm bisexual, and no, I didn't think it was necessary to tell a thirteen and seven year-old who were more focused on recovering from- Nevermind." Kakashi cut himself off.

"... We'll always be recovering, Kakashi." He answered softly. His voice wavered the slightest bit.

Kakashi sighed. "I know. I'm sorry." There were a silent few seconds filled with an awful tension. "Will you tell Sasuke?"

"No." Itachi answered. "You may not be our father but it would still upset him if he heard something like that from me even if he wouldn't show it. You should tell him soon."

"I will." Kakashi answered. They stopped on the side of the road a block away from Itachi's high school. "Do you mind walking from here?" Kakashi asked.

"No." Itachi said pulling the strap of his bag over his shoulder and opening the car door.

"Should I pick you up after school?"

"Yes please."

"Alright, have a good day, Itachi."

"... You too."

Kakashi nodded and drove away feeling a little drained and aggravated as a tenacious pain throbbed behind his left eye.

* * *

"Number six, no tomato, A number 43 with extra pickles with two sides of fries!" The counter-girl called setting the order sheet onto the tray. Kakashi examined the slip of paper before going to work. His head pounded with another migraine and the smell of the deep frier and the heat of the stove was nearly stifling. When the lunch rush died down and one of the other cooks came in to cover their shift Kakashi decided to take his break.

He stepped into the alley behind the restaurant and took a moment to close his eye, massage the back of his neck and breath in the fresh air. He pulled a small bottle of pills out of his pocket and took one. _'These are for the pain. Be careful with these Kakashi-san, just one of these is strong enough to take down a horse. Don't take more than eight a day. There's a risk of dependency so be careful with that too. If you need another prescription, you have to come into this clinic, no other place distributes something this strong except for maybe places that sell supplies for hunting large game.' _Shizune-san's voice echoed from his memory.

_'Right, back to the main reason for taking this break.' _Kakashi pulled his phone out of his pocket, searched through the contacts and found Iruka's name.

**Hey, it's Kakashi. **He typed out on the touch screen keyboard. He hesitated a moment then pressed 'Send' about a minute later.

**Hi, how are you? :) **The reply was fast, only about a minute after the original was sent. Kakashi felt his heartbeat pick up a little in muted excitement.

**Good. On my break. **_'This feels a bit awkward.'_ **My address is 7-12 Akagi 2-Chome*. By the way, I forgot to ask earlier but how does 6 sound?**

**Sounds good. **Iruka-san replied a moment later. _'...Okay, I guess that's all for now.' _Kakashi surmised feeling a small but unmistakeable pang of disappointment. He nearly slid his phone back into his pocket when the tone signaling a new message chimed again. **How long is your break?**

Probably a bit happier than he should have been he quickly replied. **I have ten minutes. Why? **He looked at it for a moment then deleted the 'Why?' and replaced it with **What's going on at school? **_'This is harder than I remember it being.'_ He deleted the second sentence and started again. **What are you up to? **_'Basically asking the same question but now it doesn't sound like something that I'd ask my eleven year-old.'_

**I have a free period at the moment.**

**I hope I'm not intruding on your work time.**

**Don't worry about it :) I've finished most of it. **Kakashi squatted with his back leaning against the wall and wondered what he should say next. Another pleasant chime interrupted his thoughts. **Are you at the KKK right now?**

**No. **He typed. **I work at Takanashi's Burger Place full time too. **_'Something about this feels kind of... intimate.'_ The thought made something pleasant swell in his chest.

**I haven't eaten there since high school! How's Takanashi-ojii-san doing?**

Kakashi felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips. **Honest answer or polite one?**

**As someone who teaches young kids I'm inclined to say honest.**

**He's still crabby as ever. **"Where's Kakashi!?" A gruff, booming voice sounded through the cracked door. **Speak of the devil. C u later**

He decided to wait until he got a reply. The phone chimed thirty seconds later with **Alright have a good day :)**

Another smile tugged at his mouth. He slipped his phone back into his pocket and slunk back inside calling for his boss' attention to see what needed to be done.

* * *

At the end of his shift around three o'clock in the afternoon he pulled out of the back parking lot of Takanashi's restaurant and drove towards Itachi's school. That annoying blonde friend of his asked for a ride. Luckily it was Itachi who told him to take the bus home. "Are sure it's alright?" Kakashi asked referring to the blonde storming down the sidewalk away from them.

"It's fine." Itachi stated. His voice was distant. Kakashi wondered if the teenager was still angry with him. He let it be and continued driving towards Sasuke's elementary school.

"Where's Naruto?" He asked approaching the black haired boy.

"Detention." Sasuke grunted.

Kakashi raised an eyebrow but turned to walk back to the car with Sasuke by his side. "By the way, Sasuke. Iruka-san and Naruto-kun are coming over for dinner tonight."

Sasuke looked mildly surprised for a moment but then went back to his usual indifferent expression with a final "Hn."

* * *

The house was never in terrible condition, Kakashi saw to that, but the masked man decided that a little straightening up was in order. He made sure the dog's corner of the living room was presentable. He fed them to make sure that they weren't underfoot while he cooked. He was walking down the hallway to make sure that the bathroom was alright when he caught sight of Sasuke who, at the moment, seemed to be making his bed which was the only thing that ever really seemed to be left in a constant mess in his bedroom. Kakashi's lips twitched up at the corners and continued down the hallway before the boy could notice that he'd seen him.

The bathroom was fine. He exchanged the old towels for clean ones and that was about all he had to do. As an afterthought he put his and Itachi's deodorant sticks in the medicine cabinet. Finally, he shed his clothes and stepped into the shower to wash the smell of the deep frier off. He scrubbed over his face with his hands and groaned softly as the warm water relaxed some of the tightness in the muscles at the back of his neck.

After he felt human again (as opposed to feeling like a french fry) he stepped out from the shower, dried off and walked back to his room with a towel wrapped around his waist. He dressed in what he knew would look good on him; a pair of dark blue boot-cut jeans and a dark grey, long sleeve, v-neck t-shirt. Long ago he'd given up doing anything with his hair so he let it dry and it happily stood lopsidedly on top of his head. He went to work in the kitchen, going over everything once with a wet dishcloth. He looked at the clock in the microwave 5:20. _'Where did all of that time go?'_

He decided to go with the simplest and quickest option. Pasta and salad it was. He put the water on to boil dumped tomato paste into a saucepan and sprinkled in basil, mushrooms, sliced olives, garlic and salt once it started simmering. Itachi walked in no doubt lured in by the smell. Kakashi reached for some white pepper in the cupboard above the oven.

"Anything I can help with?" Itachi asked his eyes sweeping over the large pot of water and the pan on the stove.

"Yes, actually." Kakashi answered shooting a look over at his older ward and setting the small spice jar on the counter. "Could you keep an eye on that?" He nodded to the pan on the stove next to him.

"Hn." The dark-haired teen made his way over and stirred the steaming red sauce. Kakashi pulled a head of lettuce out of the fridge and set it in cool water to soak for a bit and worked on getting the emulsion right with the oil and vinegar. After he'd gotten that done he threw in *kosher salt, lemon juice, garlic and white pepper.

"There we go." Kakashi muttered to himself. "Has the water started boiling yet?"

Itachi lifted the lid off of the pot. Steam gushed out making Itachi set the lid down quickly with a loud clatter. The teen cradled his hand.

"Did you get burned?" Kakashi asked.

"No. I was just startled." Itachi replied his tone low and breathy. The pulse point under the teenager's jaw was fluttering wildly, his shoulders were rigid his arms held close to his body, he looked pale and his dark eyes were slightly wider than usual with the hint of old panic swirling in them as they looked past the silver cylinder of the pot to somewhere Kakashi couldn't see. It was apparent that the long-haired male was much more than startled, but Kakashi knew better than to press him about it.

"Alright." Kakashi moved keeping his tone level and his expression carefully bored despite the slight alarm he was feeling inside. "How about you make the salad?" He made the suggestion sound casual but Itachi gave him a look.

"I can handle it." The long-haired male said flatly, tying his hair back and opening the overhead cabinet to grab the box of dry linguine. Kakashi switched off the burner and gave the sauce another stir before he began cleaning and chopping up the lettuce.

"Cover the sauce with the lid of the pot so it doesn't cool down too quickly." Kakashi instructed. Itachi quietly obeyed. Here and there he'd instruct Itachi on what to do. The doorbell rang just as Sasuke was being called in to set the table. The dogs barked and a horizontal avalanche of fur and tongues surged towards the door. "Yield." The silver-haired man commanded before they could set foot in the front hallway and they halted in their tracks but not without some very baleful looks in their master's direction.

The sound of the front door opening alerted Kakashi to the fact that Sasuke was no longer in the room with him and Itachi. "Hello Sasuke-kun." A warm male voice spoke.

"Hey Sensei." The boy's bored voice replied.

Kakashi presumed that the raven-haired boy had turned away after that because a second later a loud "You're just gonna ignore me, Teme!?" rang through the house.

_'That kid must have lungs made out of steel.'_ Kakashi brooded trying futilely to rub the ringing from his sensitive ears. "Naruto, quiet down." A brown haired teacher's voice scolded from the front hallway.

Kakashi dried his hands and stepped out to greet them. "Hey Iruka-san, Naruto-kun." He waved. For whatever reason, Iruka-san's cheeks glowed pink again but at least this time he smiled and made eye contact when returning the greeting.

"Hey Sensei!" Naruto-kun greeted loudly(but thankfully less so than before)

"Do you have only one volume?" Sasuke asked irritatedly. Turning and going into the kitchen.

"Huh? What're you talking about, Teme?" Naruto asked grumpily and following the other boy.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, went back to his previous task of setting out the dishes, and suddenly the two men were alone in the hallway together.

"Do you like dogs?" Kakashi asked, referring to the thigh-high wall of drool and hair standing a few feet behind him.

"Oh, yeah I d- Oh, wow." Iruka said only just catching sight of them his last word tinted with the hint of incredulous laughter. "You have six dogs?!" Iruka-san asked incredulously.

Kakashi shrugged and nodded "Well eight actually. I'm not sure where the other two are at the moment."

Iruka-san laughed. It was brief but light and moderately loud. It was certainly something Kakashi could get used to hearing. Still chuckling a moment later he stepped closer "May I pet them?"

Kakashi nodded and said "Feel free." He turned and snapped his fingers. "Come." The dogs happily obeyed swarming around the two men. Their muzzles all stretched towards the newcomer. _'God, you're so cute.'_ Kakashi thought watching as Iruka pet and praised them.

"I apologize Inu-chan, I don't think it's possible or me to memorize all of you and your friend's names." Iruka-san said scratching Urushi behind the ears. One of the many qualities Kakashi noticed about Iruka-san at that moment was that, while he gave the dogs an affectionate nickname he didn't baby-talk them. Something about talking to pets -even to babies- like they were, well, babies made him fundamentally uncomfortable.

"Do you have any?" Kakashi asked after a moment of watching.

"Me? No, the largest pet my lease permits is a gold fish." Iruka replied, laughing softly when one of the dogs tried to reach up and lick his face, missing the tip of his nose by an inch.

"That's tough. Your landlord must be pretty strict." Kakashi replied, Bull stepped up to sit at his side and Kakashi patted his broad wrinkled head without much thought.

"Eheh, a little I suppose." Iruka-san said standing straight scratching the back of his head.

"Dining room?" Kakashi asked pointing his thumb in the aforementioned room's direction.

"Sure." Iruka-san answered and followed after Kakashi as he led the way.

Dinner was substantially louder than usual but just as much friendlier as well. Naruto and Sasuke bickered while Iruka-san and Kakashi talked about work and the children they'd raised. Itachi bounced between the conversations, intervening when it looked like Naruto was about to start a brawl and speaking up at appropriate times with something relevant to the adult's conversation.

"Naruto used to be such a cute kid." Iruka-san said shaking his head. "Even if he was a little hell-raiser." The quirk at the corner of the brunet's mouth as he talked about the little blonde was a warm thing that made Kakashi feel a bit lighter.

"Itachi-kun, are you working yet?" Iruka-san asked.

"Not yet, but I plan on getting a job this summer." Itachi replied.

"I hear the grocery store over near the library is hiring if you're interested."

"Thank you. Senju Library?"

Iruka-san nodded in the affirmative. "Also, I was wondering if you could look after Naruto on Thursday. After karate, of course."

"I'd be happy to." Itachi replied.

"Great, I'll be by to pick him up at five. Does 15 ryou sound reasonable?"

Itachi nodded and thanked Iruka-san. Kakashi watched on wondering about the what-ifs.

* * *

After dinner Itachi excused himself to go finish his homework, the boys went upstairs to play in Sasuke's room leaving Kakashi and Iruka-san with a load of dirty dishes to contend with. Both of the men stood in front of the double kitchen sink sizing up the mess as if it were a formidable enemy.

"You scrub I rinse?" Iruka-san suggested pushing up the sleeves of his shirt.

"You don't have to do that, you're the guest." Kakashi said with his polite eye smile.

"I don't really understand things like that." Iruka-san remarked a few beats later.

"Hm?" Kakashi asked, mildly surprised and slightly concerned that he'd offended Iruka-san in some way.

"I always feel awkward when I sit around and watch other people working." He admitted.

"Is that so?" _'Hard working.'_

"So c'mon, let me help." The sudden colloquy took Kakashi a bit off guard but it certainly wasn't unwelcome.

"A-Alright." _'Did I just... Stutter?'_ Kakashi wondered more than a little surprised at his behavior. The pony-tailed man was throwing him for more loops than he could have imagined.

The bellowing of a child playing echoed from upstairs a few moments later. "Hard for me to believe I've only had him two years." Iruka-san said plugging the bottom of the sink. "It feels like longer. I wonder if that's a good thing or a bad thing." He chuckled out the last sentence. Turning on the sink.

"I'm sure it's a mix of the two. My experience has been mostly good with Itachi and Sasuke." Kakashi admitted. Taking the dish soap and squirting it out on the bottom of the sink so foam began to rise as the water poured.

"I'm glad to hear it." Iruka-san said. There was a slightly tense silence that followed. "I was wondering, Kakashi-san..." The brunet hesitated his voice held a note of uncertainty and anxiety. "Would you like to come out and have drinks with me and some of my work mates? After my ankle heals, of course."

"I'd like that." Kakashi answered without much of a thought being thrown so off balance by Iruka-san asking the question in the first place. Iruka-san's face lit up with that lopsided smile his dark eyes wide and obviously happy.

"Great!" Iruka-san said a little louder than necessary. He cleared his throat and continued "You've met Kotetsu-san already." _'Kotetsu? The grocery store man?'_ "His partner Izumo-san" _'Partner?' _"Maybe I'll try to get Genma-san to come along too." Iruka-san sounded like he was thinking aloud while speaking the last sentence.

Something about that name rang a bell "Genma? Shiranui Genma?"

"You know him?" Iruka-san asked in surprise.

The image of a kid in a red and black hoodie and a bandana with a talent for blowguns flashed through his mind. "We knew one another when we were children." Kakashi replied vaguely.

"Good, I hope you two can catch up." Iruka-san said.

"So have you lived here your entire life?" Kakashi asked a few moments later, scrubbing away at the silverware and handing it to Iruka-san who spritzed it free of suds in the other sink.

"Born and raised." He replied. "What about you?"

"I was born here but my family moved around a lot when I got a bit older."

"Your parent's got transferred a lot?"

"My father did." Kakashi replied. He knew he was being more than vague and certainly not truthful. Fortunatley Iruka-san didn't seem like the sort to pry.

"My parents were both teachers." The brunet supplied "My mom worked at the elementary school and my dad worked at the high school."

"I guess teaching runs in the family." Kakashi remarked. Iruka-san smiled more warmly than expected and his eyes shone with a dim glow of happiness and something else for just a moment. Kakashi was mildly surprised but not displeased in the slightest.

"Kakashi-san" Iruka-san started, his tone was tense, but somehow remained light. Kakashi could detect the shift in the mood. "I was wondering ab-"

"AAAAAAAHHHH! WHERE'D THEY ALL COME FROM!?" Naruto-kun shrieked bursting into the kitchen followed by six four-legged pursuers. Kakashi would have been amused if not for the blonde's poor timing. He had a feeling that Iruka-san was about to ask him something important. Both men stilled in their actions and observed as the boy ran out of the room with 24 padding feet thundering along behind him their owners looking like they were having the times of their lives. A few seconds later when Naruto-kun was out of sight there was a 'thud' an "Ow! Whatghhhrrrfffllggahhhmm-mm-mnnn!"

Both of the men stepped away from the sink and went to check and see what the commotion was about. Naruto-kun was surrounded by a mass of wagging tails and furry bodies. His face was being insistently nudged with wet black noses and licked by slobbery tongues. "Eeww!" Naruto-kun cried through a multitude of giggles.

Iruka-san who Kakashi noticed stood unusually close beside him started to laugh.

"Maybe they'll ware him out." Iruka-san said with that lopsided smile in the boy's direction. He turned his head and sent it at Kakashi. Kakashi liked that smile a little too much. He felt the warmth of Iruka-san's presence next to him. Their arms were inches away from one another. He didn't reach out, he didn't feel he had the right to. But he smiled back and a little color tinged the other man's scarred cheeks. After a moment their minds told them that they had to look away.

They went back to doing the dishes. The small space between them was rent by the boys faint bickering in from the other room, dog's feet padding over hardwood floors, the clinking of of the dishes they washed and the barely-there, slightly embarrassed, but still comfortable tension that lay over them. Their conversation was light, chatting about what was going on in the village, upcoming festivals and field-trips. Iruka-san did most of the talking. Kakashi wasn't even processing most of it. It doesn't sound very nice of him but instead of listening he simply enjoyed hearing Iruka-san speaking. He'd reply with nods, yeses, nos, and is that so's when necessary but otherwise he simply drifted off into a peaceful contentment he hadn't felt in a long time.

When the teacher and the blonde left it was nearly eight o'clock. Kakashi waved them good bye, Sasuke standing beside him in the front doorway staring after the blonde boy and his adoptive father's car as it disappeared down the street. "Did you enjoy yourself today, Sasuke?" Kakashi asked shutting the door.

"Hn." Sasuke grunted and strode back in the direction of the living room. "Yeah." He admitted a moment later.

"Good."

Sasuke scowled and turned back to face Kakashi while his dark eyes glared at the masked man's feet. He seemed to choke on the words coming out of his mouth. "C-can we have them over again?" He said softly.

Tonight was the night for surprises it seemed "If you want, I'm sure Iruka-san would be happy to. Itachi's babysitting him on Thursday after karate." Kakashi replied.

"Hn." Sasuke said.

"Good night, Sasuke." Kakashi said.

The boy nodded and left to go upstairs. Kakashi, after cleaning up the last bit of the mess leftover from dinner, followed the younger Uchiha's example.

* * *

*I had to research the Japanese addressing system. At first it was a bit difficult to wrap my head around. So, very rarely do Japanese streets have names instead they have block numbers. They name the largest region then go down to the smallest: Prefecture then city district then block number-house number. For more information on the Japanese addressing system, in case you're interested, you can find it on wikipedia. By the way, If I did it wrong I apologize to anyone who actually knows how to do it.

Reviews are a great motivator for me, so click the button, you know you want to.

"dark grey long-sleeve v-neck t-shirt" Longest description of one article of clothing I have ever typed.


	13. Chapter 13

Ohmygawd this is soooo late. I'm sorry. When I wasn't working I was mostly sleeping. Retail really sucks.

Chapter 13: Abusive Husbands and Broken Hairbands

Iruka arrived at work on Tuesday feeling a little lighter on his feet. Sure, yesterday had started out awkwardly. How were you supposed to react when the man you just masturbated to thirty minutes ago was standing in front of you? _'I suppose you greet them like a normal person. Not like a tomato, Iruka.' _Iruka rolled his eyes at himself. He was really getting sick of all this blushing, It wasn't like him at all. He wasn't even like this with Mizuki when they'd started dating. _'But that's different, you grew up with him, didn't you?' _Iruka sighed. His good mood had faltered a bit with the memory of his last relationship. He shook it out of his mind. He had dated people before his last relationship, but he never remembered blushing so much. Seriously, he was a bit worried about bursting an important blood vessel.

Sasuke-kun walked in through the door of 8b. He looked around and found Naruto who was curled around a pillow on the shag rug. It sort of looked like Sasuke-kun wanted to go over there but in the end he walked over to an empty table and sat down pulling a notebook out of his backpack and began writing in it. Iruka felt a little lonely for him but decided that once Naruto had woken up a little the boys would play together. "Where's Kakashi-san?" Iruka wondered aloud quietly his eyes traveling over to the doorway.

No silver-haired karate teacher stood there. It didn't really matter, he'd see him late that afternoon at the KKK anyways. Still, after revisiting his memories of his disastrous relationship with Mizuki he could do with a little pick-me-up right about then. After a moment of brooding he wondered what it was with him and really light-haired, dark-eyed men. He sighed standing when he noticed the time on the clock and limping over to the center of the room. He had left his crutches at the table since this morning he began to notice the unmistakable soreness of deep bruising develop around his ribs and underarms.

"It's almost time for class! Everyone head out." He announced clapping his hands loudly. The children sidled out of the room except for one little blonde lump still curled up on the carpet. A small spark of happiness rose in his chest when he saw Sasuke-kun nudging Naruto with his foot telling him to wake up. It may not have been the friendliest action but still it was nice to see that the little scarred boy had indeed made a friend in his sullen peer.

Naruto mumbled and woke slowly rising from his spot on the rug and pulling his backpack onto his shoulders. Iruka already stood by the door one side leaning on his crutch and waiting to lock the door after he and the boys left.

* * *

Around noon time, in the teacher's lounge, chaos broke out and hell froze over. Or at least it seemed that way to Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san.

"What?" The other brunet gasped.

"No way!" Kotetsu-san cried.

"First you decide you'll go out with us this Friday for the first time in months!" Izumo-san exclaimed.

"Then you say you've even got a date!?" Kotetsu-san demanded.

"Who is it?" Izumo-san demanded.

"Anyone we know?" Kotetsu-san added.

"How about you two just glue yourselves together and become one person. It would certainly be less creepy and much less annoying if you were." Iruka said munching on a sandwich.

Both of them blushed but started in on the pony-tailed sensei again. "Who is it?" They both asked in unison.

_'Seriously. Creepy.' _Iruka grimaced. He sighed and took another bite of his sandwich. "He's not a date. And I haven't even asked him if he wants to come along yet." He answered. "Anyways, his name's Kakashi. You met him briefly, Kotetsu-san."

"Huh? When?" Kotetsu san asked.

"When we bumped into one another at the grocery store on Sunday."

Realization flashed over the black-haired male's face. "That guy!?" He asked. "But he did all of this to you!" Kotetsu-san exclaimed waving at the pony-tailed man's injuries.

"Yeah, but not on purpose." Iruka said, that particular statement brought up a few bad memories. The brunet shook the grim recollections off and focused his attention back on his lunch.

"Iruka." Izumo's voice spoke. The tone was wary. It had been a long time since Izumo had used his name without the honorific.

"What?"

"If this is another Mizuki..." Izumo stated.

"He's not, Izumo." Iruka stated firmly. After a moment he chuckled. Both of the other men stared. "Every time I've bumped into him he's asked if I was alright or said he was sorry at least once. He even made me dinner as an apology yesterday evening."

Izumo-san sighed "Fine. I'll play nice, but if I see any sign of him mistreating you I'll-"

"Flip on the Bitch Switch." Kotetsu-san finished for him earning himself a smack upside the head from his lover.

"Just who are you calling a bitch, Idiot?" Izumo-san growled.

Iruka allowed his friend's bickering to steer the conversation away from the topic of the not-date with Kakashi-san.

* * *

That afternoon as Iruka dropped Naruto off Hiromi Hyuga walked over with a concerned look. Iruka had first met her when Hinata was seven during parent-teacher conferences. Her husband had been too occupied with work so she had come alone. She was a kind woman and her warm personality contrasted with that of her, in Iruka's opinion, cold and intimidating husband.

"Umino-sensei? What happened?!" She gasped with a note of alarm in her voice. Her light blue eyes scanned over his bandages, crutch, and splint.

"Oh, this?" The brunet asked needlessly gesturing to himself. "I fell while I was jogging. Nothing to worry about, Hyuga-san." The pale skin between her eyebrows creased in a worried frown. She pulled her wallet out of her purse and rifled quickly through the contents. "Hyuga-san?" Iruka sounded. She pulled out a card and scribbled something on the back.

"I understand that you're a man but I'm sure that they will be happy to help you too. Umino-san, forgive me for meddling in your personal business..." She gently took hold of his free hand and pushed the card into his palm with a determined gleam in her large eyes. Iruka was completely baffled. "But please, take this. I volunteered here for over a year and they've really helped a lot of people." She said. Iruka accepted it with a weak thank you. The brunetfelt eyes on him he turned to look in the direction of the room in which the children were practicing. Kakashi-san leaned against the wall reading a book. '_Must have been my imagination.' _He thought waving goodbye to the kind woman as she left out of the front door. Iruka took the time to read the business card Hyuga-san had given him. On the back she had written in slanted neat script

_Ask for Pakura, she's a little rough around the edges but she's there to help._

He flipped it over and there was printed text

**Center for Spousal Abuse**

"**We're here to help."**

**Hotline: +XXXXXXHELP**

He choked on the spit in the back of his throat. He stared at the card in shock. More than a little embarrassed he quietly slid it into his wallet. It would have been rude to throw it away and who knows? Maybe one day he'd meet someone who needed the information. Again he felt eyes on him and he turned to see who was watching him. No one appeared to be. He hummed in thought eying a certain silver-haired man with slight suspicion.

Sighing he wondered what the man would watch him for. _'It's pretty... Well it's not really all that obvious but... Isn't there some kind of thing between us? Do we have a thing?' _He frowned as he headed out of the door. _'Maybe it's just me who has a thing.' _He brooded progressing slowly across the small parking lot.

_'But that time in the bathroom...' _His mind argued weakly as he pulled his car keys out of his pocket. _'That's right, you were going to ask him about that last night, weren't you?' _The stronger, meaner part of his brain taunted. He slumped into the seat of his car. _'Yeah, then you lost your nerve after Naruto interrupted your conversation.' _An apathetic part of him moaned. _'You kept babbling about the dumbest things. He was tuning you out too.' _He gave a mental groan of embarrassment as he remembered watching the masked man nodding and humming in assent or acknowledgment whenever Iruka had stopped to gather his frantic brain to spit out a safe topic to talk about. He pulled out of the parking lot onto the road, heading for the nearby tea and dango shop where he could stay and grade some papers.

* * *

He returned an hour later just as the kids were being released from their class. He smiled and greeted Naruto who walked up to him. "Iruka?" Naruto asked.

"Yes?"

"Kaka-sensei said he wants to talk to you..." The boy grimaced "I'm not in trouble!" He blurted out a moment later causing the brunet teacher to raise an eyebrow at him.

"Oh really?" Iruka asked.

"Yeah!" Naruto declared.

"Alright." Iruka said lightly but chose to keep a somewhat menacing note in his voice. Naruto didn't fail to notice it and started getting that expression on his face that he got when he was going over all the events of his day to see if he could actually be in trouble. Kakashi-san was chatting with a middle-aged mother and her daughter. Iruka didn't know her by name but he recognized the girl from school. He waited until they were done talking and then made his way over to the masked man.

"Naruto said you wanted to talk to me Kakashi-san?" Kakashi-san quietly gestured for Iruka to follow him and the brunet did. When Iruka had stepped inside the cramped, cluttered office Kakashi-san closed the door.

"I like you, Iruka-san" Kakashi-san spoke after a few tense seconds of silence. _'A confession?'_ His mind screamed feeling hope rise in his chest. "and that's why I have to advise you to never cross Hiashi Hyuga." _'Huh?' _The hope that had risen plummeted down into the pit of his stomach and confusion buzzed in his mind. Kakashi-san's eye looked almost... hard. Iruka had no idea how the man's expression could seem so dark even though he could only see maybe a fifth of it.

"Kakashi-san, what are you talking about?" Iruka asked, completely thrown.

Kakashi-san quirked an eyebrow, which of course came off as a surprised expression since only the one eye was visible. "She gave you her card right?" Kakashi-san said, his tone was practically demanding.

"What?" Iruka asked. "Wh-"

"Hyuga-san." Kakashi-san stated impatiently.

Iruka frowned. "Kakashi-san, why are you acting like this?"

"She's interested in you, right?" Kakashi-san asked outright. Again Iruka choked on his spit.

Iruka stared at the masked man through his short coughing fit and asked weakly. "Wh-at?" The grade school teacher asked. "Why would you even say that!?" Iruka went pink in the cheeks. _'Isn't it obvious even if she were interested I wouldn't be!? I mean seriously, I blush whenever I talk to you. I'm way more polite than usual whenever you're around. How oblivious can you be!?' _Realization swept over the brunet. _'I'm right, it is obvious.'_ That feeling he had for Kakashi-san had developed to more than just a "thing" _'A crush.'_ He frowned and dug in his back pocket for his wallet. Kakashi-san's dark eye followed Iruka's movements.

Iruka found the card and held it out for Kakashi-san to see. "She got the wrong idea and made assumptions just like someone else I know." Iruka huffed annoyedly. Kakashi-san took it and read over that.

"Why would she give you this?" Kakashi-san's tone only darkened looking up from the piece of card-stock.

_'Seriously, what's going on in that head!?'_ Iruka wondered irritatedly. "Apparently she thinks I have an abusive husband at home." Iruka set his hand on his hip feeling humiliated. He didn't particularly care what people thought of his being gay. He certainly used to, but over all what was pissing him off the most was the fact that she had thought he had such poor taste in men and that he wasn't the type to defend himself. That had been the old him, and he had worked hard to be a stronger person than that. It had taken him two years before he'd finally broken it off with Mizuki. The man had only gotten physical a few times -grabbing a wrist or slamming Iruka against a wall. Usually that kind of thing- but his words were sharp and aimed expertly at all of Iruka's emotional weak points.

Something must have changed on his face because an intense voice asked for his attention "Iruka-san." Kakashi-san called. "Is someone hurting you?"

"No." Iruka stated _'Not anymore. Not really.'_ He shook his head slightly and tried to smile genuinely. He only half-succeeded. "No she just saw the bandages and the splint. 'I fell' isn't a very convincing reason for all of this so she probably just assumed the worst."

Kakashi-san stared. "Sorry, again."

Iruka smiled reassuringly. "My ankle's healing quickly and my scrapes are doing well too. So don't worry about it, Kakashi-san. The dinner was sorry enough, really." _'Now I can sort of see why I like him.'_ He admitted to himself. "Is there anything else you need me for, Kakashi-san?" Iruka asked a moment later.

"No, not really." Kakashi-san replied. He looked thoughtful or, at least, from what Iruka could see.

"Um... Hey, Kakashi-san. On a completely unrelated note..." Iruka hesitated.

"Hm?" Kakashi-san lifted his head to meet Iruka's eyes. Iruka sort of wished he'd continue staring down at the little little rectangle of paper.

"Would you like to grab a drink with some of my friends and I this Friday night?" Iruka asked

Kakashi-san's exposed eye widened almost comically. Iruka suppressed the urge to snicker.

"Uh..."

"It's alright if you don't want to." Iruka said earnestly.

"No! No... You just... Caught me by surprise, is all. Yes, I'd be happy come." Kakashi-san replied. "But will you be alright going to a bar like that?" He gestured towards the crutch and ankle splint.

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'm off of this thing about half the time anyways. By Friday I probably won't even need it." Iruka waved his hand at the crutch.

"And your friends won't mind my tagging along?"

"I've already asked and they've said that they don't mind." Iruka answered.

"Alright." Kakashi-san smiled.

They left the small office, thankfully in a much lighter mood than they had entered it. Iruka chatted about what his friends were like and Kakashi-san listened and responded appropriately until, with a wave, Iruka promised to text the address of the bar to Kakashi-san later in the week while leading Naruto out of the dojo.

* * *

Wednesday morning came and went. Iruka was eating a cup of instant ramen (surprisingly there had been a surplus of it in his pantry that would expire soon) and briefly remembered that he still had to text Kakashi-san the address and name of the bar. He whipped out his phone.

**4-5 Akagi 3 Chome Momo's Pub.** He typed out then promptly deleted it with a mental murmur of _'Too unfriendly'_ **Hey. **He typed in instead. Then realized Kakashi-san was probably still working at the moment.

Maybe five minutes later he received a response. **Hello. On break?**

He stifled a goofy grin and responded with **I am. You?**

**I have about 5 minutes left. **

Iruka hurried to reply. **Do you know where Momo's Pub is?**

**I live only a few blocks away from it actually. **Was Kakashi's answer.

**Excellent.**

They chatted on a bit longer until Kakashi had to go back to work. Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san burst into the office, laughing and carrying on their own conversation until Iruka joined in.

* * *

On Thursday morning Iruka was finally able to leave his crutches in the car (he decided to keep them accessible, just in case) He still wore the splint but that was mainly because he had lost track of his shoe over the week and was in too much of a rush that morning to search for it properly. He hobbled around-no doubt earning a few strange looks from his students and co-workers- and rejoiced in the feeling of no longer having to deal with sore under-arms as a result.

* * *

Around lunch time he was asked to keep an eye on the kids playing during recess. Unwisely perhaps, he agreed. He didn't realize that this was a poor decision until he stepped on an anthill with his splinted foot. He didn't realize it right away until, of course he began feeling little stinging sensations on his foot, which was only covered by a sock and his splint. What resulted was a slew of exasperated censored swear words 'Shi-crap! Fu-antastic! Ow! God damnit!' a few red welts on his leg and foot and a busted hair-tie from when he had fallen backwards into (and had gotten momentarily snagged in) a bush. He'd asked around for anyone who had an extra hair tie but had no luck so for the rest of the afternoon he dealt with an increase in stares and whispers from his students. For the time being he clipped most of it away with a red butterfly barrette Moegi had been kind enough to lend him when she noticed his hair was falling in his face too often. By the end of the school day it was pretty safe to say Iruka was not in a terribly good mood.

* * *

That afternoon Iruka walked Naruto inside the KKK and sighed pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. The little blonde ran off, presumably in search of Sasuke-kun.

"Iruka-san?" A soft baritone called. The brunet looked up at the speaker who was watching him through a single, wide, dark grey eye. He hadn't even noticed Kakashi-san was there until the moment the man spoke.

"Sorry, Kakashi-san, I didn't realize you were there." Iruka apologized

"Are you alright?" Kakashi-san asked. There was something other than concern in that eye too. Iruka felt it scan over his face and then fix its gaze on an area just above his right ear. Reaching up he felt for what the masked man was staring at only to feel his stomach squirm in humiliation when he discovered what it was. He drew the little barrette out of his hair with an embarrassed chuckle.

"I um... fell and broke my hair band sooo... Eheh..."

"...cute..." Kakashi-san murmured softly.

Iruka's cheeks flared red. "Um. What?" He asked.

"Uh... The barette... it's cute." Kakashi-san clarified. A hint of pink touched the masked man's partly exposed cheek and Iruka nearly smiled for it. _'Maybe it's not too much to hope that he has a 'thing' for me too.'_ The pony-tail man thought.

"Thanks, but unfortunately it's not mine." He joked after recovering from his surprise. "I borrowed this from a student and forgot to return it."

"I see." Kakashi-san replied cheerfully. His upturned eye opened and was giving Iruka the impression of scanning him over. "It seems like you have a few new injuries, Iruka-san. Your husband's work?" Kakashi-san asked referring to the new small scratches on the brunet's arms and neck he'd received from the tumble he'd taken into the bush earlier. For a moment Iruka drew a complete blank. Then remembered their conversation in the office. He laughed. Kakashi-san seemed a little happier.

"No, I'm afraid the ants and the bush did his work for him today." Iruka-san chuckled.

"How..." Kakashi-san began. He shook his head, as if clearing it the stated "You look nice with your hair down, Iruka-san." His facial expression was bored but Kakashi-san gave the impression that he didn't give out praise lightly. Another blush burned in the scarred man's cheeks but Iruka determinately continued to keep eye contact with the slightly taller man. "Thank you." A bubble of happiness expanded in the brunet's chest at the compliment once the slight embarrassment subsided. It must have shown on his face because Kakashi-san's eye was wide and his cheek tinged pink again.

A second later the masked man cleared his throat and looked away. "Right, well, I should probably get to work."

"Oh right! Sorry. Um yeah, see you later then." Iruka said waving as the masked man turned towards the classroom. Iruka turned to leave soon after, pulling out of the parking lot and heading back to the elementary school where the meeting was being held. It was one of the more important ones so Iruka couldn't get away with playing hooky.

After a very dull two and a half hours filled with the droning of the school principal and administrator Iruka finally slid back into the comfort of his own car and drove in the direction of Kakashi-san's house.

Halfway there he realized that he had no cash to pay Itachi-kun with, and so made a detour to go to the bank. On his way back to Kakashi-san's house had gotten lost quickly and had to look up directions again. He ended up on the front porch of Kakashi-san's house a quarter past seven. He rang the door bell and waited. He was greeted by Itachi-kun who gave a small smile and welcomed him in. Six of the eight dogs rushed him at the door until Kakashi-san appeared to shoo them away.

"Did Naruto behave?" Was Iruka's first question.

"Aside from bickering with my brother and not eating his vegetables he was fine." Itachi-kun replied. Iruka internally rolled his eyes at that.

"Did he do his homework?"

"When forced." Kakashi-san replied. "Itachi used some interesting methods."

"Oh dear, do I even want to know?" Iruka chuckled.

"I made ramen and told him he couldn't have any until his homework was finished." Itachi-kun answered with the faintest air of self satisfaction.

Iruka smiled. "Well I'm glad you found his Achilles heel right from the get go."

"It's a good thing Sasuke is in the same class." Kakashi-san started. "Naruto-kun seemed to have forgotten to write everything down in his assignment notebook."

"Oh, is that so?" _'Forgot or neglected?'_ He wondered as he felt a spark of annoyance. "Did he finish all of it?"

"Yes."

"Excellent." Iruka pulled out an envelope with two twenty ryou bills and handed it to the teenager who looked inside

"Forty? For only two hours?" Itachi-kun asked incredulously.

"Naruto can be a bit much to handle for others, I wanted to make sure it was well worth it for you." Iruka smiled scratching the back of his head.

"Aren't you going to thank him Itachi?" Kakashi-san asked the boy.

"Oh, forgive me. Thank you Iruka-sensei." Itachi-kun bowed his head a little.

Iruka chuckled and put his hands in front of himself, "So formal! Really, you did me a big favor."

He felt eyes on him so he opened his own. Kakashi-san was watching him but Iruka had no idea in what light. The stare was casual and superficially bored. It wasn't cold and it wasn't especially warm either. It was simply a look. Iruka didn't understand it but he decided to simply smile back.

"Ah" He sounded as realization hit him. "Kakashi-san, Tomorrow night, I completely forgot to ask if it was alright to leave Naruto over here." He looked at Itachi-kun too.

Kakashi-san asked "Would you mind, Itachi?" He asked.

"I suppose not." The young man replied. "How long are you planning on being gone?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think we'll be later than midnight, right Iruka-san?" Kakashi-san shrugged looking at me.

"Are you two going on a date?" Itachi-kun asked a dark eyebrow quirked curiously.

Both men descended into nervous coughing fits. Iruka's face lit up and when he gathered the courage to actually look at the masked man again he discovered the same was true for Kakashi-san as well.

"Um well... No, Itachi. Just a friendly outing, I mean... Right Iruka-san?"

"Y-yeah." The brunet winced as his voice cracked slightly. The teenager looked between the two men and sighed a few moments later. Iruka had the distinct feeling of being scolded.

"Naruto-kun's up in Sasuke's room playing video games." Itachi-kun answered. He turned and it was obvious Iruka was supposed to follow.

"Teme! You cheated!" Naruto's voice boomed from up the stairs.

"No you just suck, Idiot." Sasuke-kun's voice replied haughtilly.

"What'd you say!?"

As he stepped in through the doorway of Sasuke-kun's room Iruka cleared his throat. "Naruto." He called, happy that his voice was level once again. The blonde perked up and turned to look at the brunet.

"You're here already?" The boy asked. Iruka raised an eyebrow at the kid's rudeness.

"Well that's a great greeting, Naruto. Track down your things and then we'll head home." Naruto groaned and stood up pouting. Iruka honestly couldn't blame him. Despite how often Naruto bickered with Sasuke-kun it was pretty obvious that the blonde was overjoyed that he had made a friend. As the boy passed Iruka bopped him on the head lightly saying. "Hey, quit sulking. You'll be back here tomorrow night." He shot his adoptive son a smirk and the excited grin he received was practically blinding.

"Okay!" Naruto cried with renewed cheer and moved out of the room at a faster pace. Sasuke switched off the game console and followed his friend's example.

Kakashi-san sat at the table in the kitchen helping Naruto find his things.

"Warmer... Warmer... Colder... Freezing cold..." _'Well, sort of helping.'_ Iruka mused watching the two of them. "It's on your right..." Kakashi-san stated.

"Huh?" Naruto looked off to his left.

"Your other right." Kakashi pointed in the direction of Naruto's little gree frog pencil sharpener.

"Oh!" Naruto grabbed it off the table and stuffed it in his bag.

"Alright, next item, you're freeing cold..." Kakashi-san said crossing his arms over his chest.

"Kaka-sensei you're not helping at all!" Naruto hollered. Iruka couldn't agree more. It seemed like Kakashi-san was in an unusually playful mood. The brunet could only tell by the faintly amused look in the other man's drooping eye.

He chuckled. "Quit teasing him." Iruka said coming to stand beside the karate instructor. Kakashi-san looked up at the scarred man from his seat at the table.

"You're mistaken Iruka-san. Naruto-kun asked me to train him how to be a ninja. The first skill a ninja must learn is to observe his surroundings. This is training." Kakashi-san replied his eye turning up in a cheerful smile. _'Now I feel like you're teasing me.'_

"By the way, Iruka-san, Are you -Hot-" Kakashi interrupted himself.

"Wh-what?" Iruka stammered. Dark eyes going wide.

"Ah, no I was talking to him. -Colder- Sorry. I was wondering if you're really up to going out -Warmer- tomorrow night?" The silver-haired man eyed the splint that still covered Iruka's ankle.

"Oh this. No, I just wore it because I lost... well I lost my shoe... Eheh." Iruka admitted. "I'm sure I'll find it tonight. But I'm fine without the boot, really."

Kakashi-san smiled back up at him. "Alright, I'm glad to hear it."

Iruka smiled back. "So Momo's at eight tomorrow night sounds good?"

"You'll drop Naruto-kun off over here first right? We can head over in my car, if you like." Kakashi-san proposed.

"Sounds like a plan." Iruka replied with a smile.

A few minutes later Iruka and Naruto both said their good byes and slid into their respective car seats. Something slipped into Iruka's mind on the way home. _'If Itachi already knew about this mutual crush between Kakashi-san and I...'_ He glared at the road. _'Internet.' _His brain supplied. How would that look on a search engine's text bar?

**How do I come out to my ten year old adopted son?**

The computer screen was so insistently bright in the dimly lit room Iruka had turned into an office. He had typed it in, now all he had to do was click search. Okay. Naruto was already snoring away in bed. He pressed 'Enter' and the screen filled with text. A moment later with bated breath he clicked the first result.

At two in the morning Iruka collapsed on the bed. He hadn't found anything that seemed useful. Perhaps, when the time was right he'd just wing it.

_'And when would that be?'_ A voice mocked inside his mind. _'When you find a partner?'_

_'I don't know, maybe.' _Iruka surmised meekly.

_'You don't have the balls to even ask the guy you're currently interested in out on a real date, even though it's pretty obvious he isn't married and interested himself.' _

_'Is it really that obvious?'_

_'YES.'_

"Fine then." He scowled and sat up in bed his face held in a determined frown. He opened his door and padded down the hallway towards Naruto's room. _'Now or never, before you lose your nerve!'_

He knocked on the door decorated with drawings of a swirls and frogs and signs commanding their reader to stay out. When there was no answer except for the sound of soft snoring he entered. Flicking on the lamp on the nightstand Iruka shook Naruto awake.

"Uh, Whuh- 'Ruka Sensei, wa'izzit?" Naruto asked sleepily sitting up. "Eart'gwake?" He asked,

"No." Iruka shook his head taking a seat on the floor beside Naruto's bed. Resting his chin on top of his crossed arms set on the edge of the bed. Naruto frowned and sat up looking a bit more awake. "What izzit? You're acting funny, sensei." His eyes widenned "Wait! Are you going to kick me out!? Is this what's going on!?" He demanded now fully awake and beginning to panic.

"What? No! No, no, no, no." Iruka said taking hold of Naruto's flailing arms and grasping them gently. "No, You're stuck with me, kiddo." Iruka smiled reassuringly. But then it sagged a little at the thought _'If he still wants to be after I tell him this.'_ "I wanted to talk to you about something else. It's something important about me that I should have told you earlier."

"Huh?"

Iruka took a deep inhale and braced himself.

"I'm gay, Naruto." he admitted.

The room was quiet. The buzzing of the lamp nearby seemed so much louder than before. After a few seconds that felt like hours Iruka tried to swallow the lump in his throat and keep his breathing steady. His eyes stung as they stayed focused on the floor near his knees. "I understand that this is big news but-" He wiped at one of his stinging eyes, feeling humiliated when he noticed his voice crack. "I want you to know that I'll always work hard to make sure you see this place as your home. I think of you as my little brother, Naruto, and I'm sorry it took so long to tell you." More silence. "Please, say somethi-"

"Brother?" Naruto's unusually soft voice asked.

Iruka looked up into shocked bright blue eyes and forced a smile. "Exactly." He sniffed wiping the corner of his eye.

"Iruka?"

"Yeah?"

"I also... Well, I think of you as my brother too!" The little blonde declared. It wasn't his usual loud voice which meant to Iruka that Naruto was being serious.

Iruka let out a wet laugh that was one part hysterics two parts relief. He rubbed a wet eye with the heel of his hand and sniffled. "I'm happy to hear that Naruto. Haheheh" He rose from his seat on the floor, "I'll let you sleep now, 'kay?" He smiled down at the boy sitting on the bed and turned to leave. He was halfway to the door when he heard footseps and felt a tug on the back of his shirt.

He looked over his shoulder. "Naruto?"

The blonde glared up at him for a moment. Iruka was taken aback and then even moreso when The boy gave him a brief rib bruising hug then ran back to bed. "Night!" Naruto called.

It felt like a massive weight had been lifted off of Iruka's shoulders and he smiled genuinely back at the lump under Naruto's covers. "Good night, Naruto." He said softly, closing the door behind him as he left.

* * *

Sleepy, sleepy, sleepy. It's only eight thirty and I already want to go to bed. I'm really sorry that this is so late. Nowadays I'm just so freaking tired all of the time. I also feel sort of dissatisfied with it too. But I'm really too tired to comprehend much more than basic spelling and grammar errors in my revision. Please keep reading and reviewing, it's amazing how much of a drive I can get on a little encouragement.


	14. Chapter 14

Hello :) I want to let you guys know that I love the fact tat you review so consistently. I cranked out this puppy for ya (and DAMN, it's a long one!) Keep it up. I love you guys!

* * *

Chapter 14: Past Lives and Pain Killers

A blisteringly hot Friday evening -around 6:30 or so- found Kakashi Hatake considering his reflection in the mirror with a critical look in his dark eye. He adjusted his mask, then his shirt, then his hair, then he wondered if his whole outfit was acceptable. From what he remembered from brief glances in through the windows while driving, walking, or running by Momo's was a pretty nice place. Four stars at least, certainly not the type of place you could show up in a dirty t-shirt and jeans. Not that Kakashi felt inclined to wear anything like that anyways, especially since this was the first -and hopefully not the last- 'friendly outing' he had with Iruka-san.

He tried to tell himself that there wasn't any point in being nervous in how Iruka-san thought of his appearance but something compelled him to get ready an hour and a half before the scarred man was scheduled to come over and he had gone through three shirts already. _'This is ridiculous. He's already seen me in a gi and a jogging outfit.'_ He rolled his eyes at his own nervousness but at the same time couldn't help smoothing the the front of his shirt and picking a miniscule ball of lint from his pant-leg. At the moment he wore a navy blue button-up shirt that hugged his lithe torso quite nicely, in his opinion. He decided on dark jeans and a pair of reasonably nice black leather shoes that he knew were downstairs near the front door.

Looking up at the clock he discovered that a half an hour had already passed. Sighing in exasperation at himself he scratched his head and left the room. Itachi, stepping out of his own room, caught sight of Kakashi as the masked man made his way down the hallway towards the stairs. The teenager quirked a perfect black eyebrow "Isn't Iruka-sensei coming over at eight?" He asked.

"He is." Kakashi stated simply and continuing on his way as Itachi looked down at his watch. "By the way, do you think there are enough snacks in the house?" Kakashi asked folding up his sleeves.

"To feed Naruto-kun? I'm not sure." Itachi replied.

"Alright, I'll run by the grocery quick." Kakashi stated heading down the stairs. "Anything in particular that you need?" He asked of the teen who was following him down into the kitchen at the moment.

Itachi's dark eyes seemed to light up the slightest bit. "Dango?"

"At the grocery?" Kakashi asked.

"They have frozen ones, I want to try them." Itachi stated.

"Alright." Kakashi conceded grabbing his car keys off of the kitchen counter.

* * *

Kakashi was in the check out line when the first surge of pain hit. His skull buzzed in agony and his vision wavered like a camera going in and out of focus rapidly. He grunted and his knees gave out the slightest bit. Alarmed gasps surrounded him and he tried his best to stand upright. He looked around trying to ignore the black spots popping in his vision and focus on the worried faces of his fellow shoppers and the cashier.

"Sorry about that." He gasped past another surge of pain trying his best to stay on his shaking legs. "The heat must be getting to me today." He stated conversationally, setting the basket of groceries on the conveyor belt. The cashier nodded worriedly and continued to scan his items as he did his best to make it look like he wasn't leaning most of his weight on the magazine rack.

In the car, with shaking hands, he pulled out the bottle of pain killers and swallowed a single capsule dry. Waiting for the pill to kick in he sighed and pressed his hands to his face. A moment later he pulled out his cell and dialed a number he was well familiar with.

"What are you doing calling me at this time on a Friday night, Brat?" An irritated voice demanded after the third ring. Tsunade-san, no doubt, was already home and had tapped into the store in her liquor cabinet

"Tsunade-san." Kakashi gasped.

"I know that tone. What did you do to yourself now?" She demanded after a brief pause.

"Nothing." Kakashi panted into the receiver.

"Your eye then?" She grunted.

"Obito's eye. Yes." Kakashi confirmed. There was a pause.

"Listen to me Kakashi." She commanded in a grave tone. Wincing and touching the base of his skull Kakashi did. "I want you to come in tomorrow. We're going to discuss your options." She stated.

"I'm not getting another inject-"

"I'm not talking about that!" She snapped. Kakashi shut his mouth and paid attention. "Either we try to suppress that immune system of yours or we're going to have to get that eye out! Do you understand!" She bellowed. Kakashi held the phone away form his ear.

"Yes. Tsunade-san." Kakashi affirmed.

"Good. Come in at noon. I'll leave the door unlocked."

"Alright."

"If you skip out you're in enormous trouble, Brat." She growleded.

"Good night, Tsunade-san" Kakashi stated.

"You hear me!?"

"Yes, I won't skip out."

"Good. Alright, good night, Brat." She hung up after that. _'Funny how she can make me feel like I'm twelve again'_ He sighed. The pain had dimmed a little and most of the spots and the dizziness had faded. He drove home and pulled into the driveway at a quarter to eight.

Itachi and Sasuke both sat in the living room. Sasuke stared boredly at the documentary on the television and Itachi scribbling something down on a notebook. The younger boy looked up.

"Where did you go?" He asked.

"Grocery store." Kakashi replied holding up the bag of snack foods he had bought. Sasuke stood up from the couch and followed his guardian into the kitchen, black eyes trained on the bag. Kakashi set the bag of snacks on the counter and beginning to put them away. Sasuke dug through it in search of something to eat. "Want to help me put some things away?" Kakashi asked.

The boy turned with an obvious no at the ready when he stopped. "You're really pale." He stated instead.

"Oh, am I?" Kakashi asked quickly brushing cold sweat from his aching forehead.

"Yeah." Sasuke scowled. "Are you sick?"

"Only a little under the weather." Kakashi lied. "Don't worry about it." He took the bag from Sasuke's hands and put the last of the food away. Sasuke scowled just as he opened his mouth to challenge Kakashi's words the doorbell rang. The clamor of 24 padded and clawed feet tumbled towards the front door. Somewhat relieved, Kakashi followed the noise to answer the door.

"Hello." Kakashi greeted opening the door. He looked down to find Iruka-san looking absolutely gorgeous in a dark green v-neck t-shirt with its sleeves rolled up a quarter of the way, a nice pair of dark gray jeans, a dark brown leather belt and nearly-matching shoes. His hair was tied back at the base of his skull in an unusual, but extremely attractive, ponytail loose enough to allow some stray strands to fall and frame the man's handsome face. As Iruka-san had insisted the other day, he seemed to be walking just fine without the splint or the crutches. The large bandage on his forehead had been replaced with a much smaller and more discreet band-aid and the scrapes on his arm were no longer covered in gauze pads. It was then that he realized too that Iruka-san's ears were pierced, at least one of them held a small gold stud that was brought out by the mocha color of his skin.

_'Beautiful.'_ Kakashi gulped, feeling a little warmer than he had earlier. Dark chocolate-colored eyes widened and looked the masked man up and down discreetly. If Kakashi hadn't been trained to notice almost everything he most likely would have missed it. Hopefully the bobbing of Iruka's delectable-looking Adam's apple, widened eyes and the suddenly averted gaze was a sign that Iruka-san liked what he saw.

"Hello." Iruka-san smiled his eyes flicking away and back to meet Kakashi's gaze.

"Hey, Kaka-sensei, where's Sasuke?" Naruto-kun asked untangling himself from the mass of fur tongues and tails.

The question took more thought than it should have for Kakashi to answer. "Umm... the living room."

"Kay! Bye Iruka-sensei!" Naruto-kun bellowed thumping off in the direction of the living room a little procession of canines joyfully bounding after him.

"Bye!" Iruka called. "Behave!" He cried as an afterthought

There was an "Oof!" and two thuds. You didn't have to be a genius to figure out what had happened. As was expected a sullen voice asked "Why can't you ever watch where you're going, Idiot?" The bickering commenced.

"So you'll be out until midnight?" Itachi asked over the voices of the two boys a few moments after entering the hallway.

"I suppose it depends on whether or not we're having fun but we'll be back at 12 at the very latest" Iruka-san stated. "Sound reasonable, Kakashi-san?" Iruka-san planted those dark eyes on Kakashi almost carefully focused on the masked man's concealed face.

"It does." Kakashi nodded looking straight back.

Iruka-san gave him a smile and asked "Should we go now?" Kakashi nodded and stepped towards the door. "Oh, Itachi-kun," Iruka-san stopped and turned to look back at the teenager.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"If Naruto puts up a fuss about going to bed, just make some warm milk, it knocks him right out." Iruka-san suggested.

Itachi nodded. "Will do. Thank you, Sensei."

Iruka-san's smile widened the slightest bit, he really was breath-taking with the slightest bit of work. The hint of shapely pectorals were visible through his thin shirt. The dip of his collarbone was framed in the 'V' of his v-neck, giving Kakashi a small urge to lick it. The masked man looked away. He was thinking like a horny teenager. He shook his head slightly and tried focusing on proper protocol for 'friendly outings'. That being said he hadn't had much experience in that department. He'd gone out for drinks with Gai and Asuma every once in a while but Kakashi felt almost zero sexual or romantic attraction to Asuma and absolutely none towards Gai.

Itachi said goodbye closing and locking the front door behind the two men suddenly leaving them alone together with nothing safe really, to talk about. Kakashi walked silently to his car unlocking the doors with two presses to the remote on his car key.

"So your friends... Kotetsu-san and Izuma-san?" Kakashi asked awkwardly trying to find a topic to break the strained silence. He started the car.

"It's Izumo, and Genma-san should be there too." Iruka-san stated his tone light.

"Oh, sorry." Kakashi apologized backing out of the driveway.

"It's no problem." Iruka-san stated, waving his hand.

A few moments later Kakashi decided to risk it. "You look really nice tonight." Kakashi wasn't watching him but could tell that Iruka-san was blushing.

"O-oh, Um thank you. You do too, Kakashi-san." The soft baritone replied. Kakashi felt a giddy squirm of heat rise in his chest.

He smiled and looked over at the grade school teacher briefly "Thank you, Iruka-san." After that. "I never noticed that your ears were pierced."

As if he himself had only just realized this Iruka-san reached up to touch his ear lobe. "Um yeah, I had them pierced when I was fifteen, I think, when I was in the middle of my rebellious phase, It seemed like a waste to just let them heal back up again so... Yeah." Iruka-san shrugged.

"A rebellious phase?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah." Iruka-san chuckled. "My mom threw a fit. I was such a brat about it too." Iruka-san grinned. "What about you?"

"Hm..." Kakashi thought back to the time when he was fifteen years old. Any overt rebellion would have been met with swift and harsh ramifications. Kakashi had certainly been arrogant and moody around that age but rebellious? _'No. Not really.' _"I didn't really have a rebellious phase. I was brought up pretty strictly. I got a couple tattoo's around that age but the people who raised me didn't really care about that."

"A tattoo at 15?" Iruka-san asked his eyes wide.

"Well I got my first one when I was ten so-"

"You're kidding me right?" Iruka-san cut across him.

"No, my father insisted." Kakashi shrugged.

"WHAT!?"

"Is that so unusual?" Kakashi asked, bemusedly.

"You have to be joking! Of course it is!"

"I'm really not joking." Kakashi smiled nervously. _'Whoops.' _

"I hope it's at least nothing shameful." Iruka-san stated.

"It's not." Kakashi assured patting his upper arm "It's a bit small, nothing bad." He took a deep breath "I certainly wouldn't mind showing it to you sometime."

Iruka-san blushed faintly but he smiled. "Sure, as long as you don't mind." He stated. The car pulled into a parking spot at the curb and the two men exited the car.

"So do you think this will scar?" Kakashi asked taking a chance and reaching up to touch the band-aid on Iruka-san's forehead. Iruka-san shied away a moment and blushed a little. "Sorry." Kakashi said retracting his hand.

"Oh, um no. You just startled me a bit." Iruka-san amended. He gave a weak smile. "And really it's fine. I've been taking care of it so it shouldn't leave any marks." He touched it himself.

"I'm glad to hear it." Kakashi smiled back pocketing his hand. He felt a little worried about Iruka-san's reaction. The two men stepped inside the bar and Kakashi looked around. It was a very nice place. Clean lines and warm relaxing shades of cream and mahogany. The lighting was low but not so much that it could be called dim. The entire atmosphere was that of a place to simply unwind and enjoy oneself, the perfect place for a Friday night. _'Maybe I should bring Gai and Asuma here.' _Kakashi mused.

"Hm." Iruka-san hummed looking around the thinly-populated bar with a small frown creasing the skin between his eyebrows. "They must not be here yet."

Not a moment later Iruka-san was grabbed around the shoulders by a vaguely familiar man wearing a backwards black bandana with a toothpick hanging from his mouth. "Iruka! How are you?! I haven't seen you in ages!" The man declared with a broad smile. Iruka-san wobbled with the force of the friendly half-embrace. Kakashi couldn't help but feel a small twinge of irritation as he watched their interaction.

"Genma-san." Iruka-san stated trying to steady himself. He seemed accustomed to the other man's behavior.

"Oh get rid of that -san crap with me already." Shiranui Genma said. "So 'Zumo-chan and Ko-chan told me you got yourself a boyfriend, is this him?" Genma-san smirked in Kakashi's direction. The smile didn't falter but recognition flashed in those eyes almost immediately.

"No, that's just a misunderstanding." Iruka-san claimed grimacing a blush tinting his cheeks pink again. "Genma-san, please let go of me, you're hurting."

"Oop, my bad." Genma-san apologized Iruka-san straightened his shirt giving Kakashi's quick eyes a little peak of another inch of mocha-colored collarbone. The pony-tailed man returned to stand beside Kakashi. "Hey, I'm Shiranui Genma." The man held out his hand to Kakashi who took it and gave it a firm shake.

"Hatake Kakashi. Nice to meet you." Kakashi stated politely. It was strange, meeting someone you knew as a child and hadn't seen for over a decade and a half. Genma-san had been three years older than him but Kakashi had excelled to the same rank as the blow-gun user by the masked man's second year in ANBU.

"Haven't we met before?" Genma-san asked but the look in his eye showed loud and clear that he had known almost right away who exactly Kakashi was.

"I believe so." Kakashi affirmed.

"Well then I'm glad to meet you again." And that was that. _'At least, for now.'_ Kakashi brooded. Genma-san led them over to the bar and asked "What're you drinking? Sake, Iruka?" Again annoyance fizzled through his brain.

"Mmm... I'm in more of a mood for an ale today." Iruka-san hummed. The soft rumble of his voice had interesting effects on Kakashi's breathing and heart-rate. "Blue Vine sounds good." Iruka-san sighed.

"I'm not sure if they have that." Genma-san stated.

"I'll just ask." Iruka-san shrugged.

"What about you, Kakashi-san?" Genma-san asked slightly less formal than Kakashi would have liked.

He was about to answer when he recalled the pain pills he had taken earlier. "I think that I'll stick with water."

"You're not drinking?" Genma-san asked raising an eyebrow.

"I'm on some medication at the moment that I can't mix with alcohol." Kakashi stated. To anyone else Genma-san would have probably looked pitying but Kakashi noticed the grim set of the mouth and the slight change in breathing. Genma-san knew as well as Kakashi some of the drawbacks of living the life they had.

"I see, well that's unfortunate." Genma-san stated.

"What is?" Iruka-san asked coming back from his discussion with the bartender who was currently filling a glass with amber liquid from a tap.

"Your date can't drink with us." Genma-san said.

Surprisingly, not blushing at the bandana'd man's words Iruka-san looked over at Kakashi in concern. "I'm sorry Kakashi-san I had no idea." He stated.

"It's not a problem, Iruka-san. I can still enjoy going out." Kakashi reassured him.

"Are you sure?" Iruka-san asked stepping closer. "I don't mind laying off the alcohol tonight too if you like."

"No please, relax and enjoy yourself. I honestly don't mind." Kakashi stated. That crease in between Iruka-san's eyebrows appeared again. The masked man reached out and was happy when Iruka-san didn't shy away this time. He patted the brunet on the shoulder and then pulled his hand back allowing himself to drag fingertips lightly along the other man's upper arm before breaking contact altogether just briefly enough that it would seem unintentional. The heat of Iruka-san's skin bled through the fabric. Something Kakashi didn't miss the chance to savor. _'When did I get so creepy?'_ Kakashi wondered. But discarded that thought when he recalled how pleasant it was to touch Iruka-san.

"If you say so." Iruka-san frowned. Kakashi took a seat on one of the bar stools Iruka-san sat beside him and Genma-san on the other side of pony-tailed man. The bartender set the glass of ale on the counter in front of Iruka-san. The brunet thanked him and Kakashi turned to look away from the enticing movements of the darker man's throat as he swallowed.

"I heard from Ko-chan you knocked Iruka around pretty well." Genma-san said. His light tone didn't hide the threat underneath.

Iruka-san scowled. "Do I really have to go through this again?" He demanded. "It was an accident!"

"Did he hit you with a car or something? Maybe more than once?" Genma-san asked the brunet a skeptical frown on his face.

"...No, I don't know how... but Kakashi-san just knocked me really far when we ran into one another is all." Iruka-san stated.

"How did you-" He began to ask looking over at Kakashi but he was quickly cut off by a loud cry and a pair of arms flinging themselves around Genma-san's shoulders. Kakashi noted the way the bandana'd man's body tensed the slightest bit and his eyes flashed with a dangerous blankness. That look brought a familiar cold tension to his mind and body as well. The mentality for a fight. A kill. But as soon as it appeared it left. Genma-san's body relaxed again and warmth returned to his eyes. Some of the stiffness in Kakashi's shoulders eased as well. He had heard the horror stories of early ANBU members who had retired but were too dangerous, too well programed, to be put back into normal society and had been either reintegrated or terminated.

"Genma-senpai! I haven't seen you in ages!" The owner of the arms wrapped around Genma-san's shoulders cried. _'The man from the grocery store.'_

"Ko-chan!" Genma-san smiled patting the arms around his neck. "Now stop touching me." He commanded flatly. Kotetsu-san whined about Genma-san being cold but released him immediately.

"Where's Raidou-san?" Another bandana'd man with brown bangs hanging over one side of his face stepped up and asked, looking around.

For the first time that night Genma-san scowled. "Working." He grunted shortly.

"Uh-oh! Get into another fight?" Kotetsu-san asked leaning close.

"Bubble." Genma-san stated shortly pushing the man's face away from his. "And that's none of your business." Iruka-san shot Genma-san a sympathetic smile.

"Are you Kakashi-san?" The other yet-to-be-named man asked finally catching notice of Kakashi.

"Oh right! Sorry. Izumo-san, this is Kakashi-san. Kakashi-san this is Izumo-san." Iruka-san introduced them. "And you remember Kotetsu-san, right?"

"It's nice to meet you." Kakashi said offering a wave and a smile to his new acquaintance. "It's nice to see you again." He waved to Kotetsu-san.

"Nice to meet you. So you're the infamous Kakashi-sensei." Izumo-san said as if accusing him of some awful crime. _'Well it didn't take you long to dislike me, did it?' _Kakashi mused but kept the smile on his face.

"'Infamous'? What's that supposed to mean Izumo-san? Really." Iruka-san said shaking his head. "Be nice, it really was just an accident." The darker man sighed standing from his seat. "Anyways, I think I saw a table open over there." The other two men vacated their seats.

"Sounds good." Genma-san stated.

"Fine, we'll get our drinks and be over in a second." Kotetsu-san took hold of Izumo-san's wrist and tugged him closer to the bar.

Kakashi followed alongside Iruka-san. They sat at a round table Genma-san beside Iruka-san beside Kakashi. Two spaces were left open for Kotetsu-san and Izumo-san and they were soon filled by their intended occupants.

"Hey, Kakashi-san, haven't I seen you somewhere before?" Kotetsu-san asked.

"Well we did meet in the grocery store parking lot." Kakashi replied.

"No, no before that!" Kotetsu-san said.

"Um, you work with Iruka-san right?" Kakashi asked. "You could have seen me around there." He suggested although he'd never really seen the man before.

"No..." Kotetsu-san hummed pensively. "I feel like I've seen you somewhere else." He frowned. "Ah! You're the cook at that Takanashi's place, right?"

"Hm? You've seen me?"

"Well, through that little window between the front and the kitchen, yeah. That's why I couldn't remember you right away." Kotetsu-san stated. "That place makes the best grilled chicken." He stated.

"Well thank you. It's always nice to know that people enjoy my cooking." Kakashi smiled.

The goateed man's eyes widened and he seemed to be speechless for just a moment. "Iruka-san." Kotetsu-san said in a suddenly serious voice.

Iruka-san looked over in surprise. "Kotetsu-san?" All of the other men looked at the aforementioned man who leaned over the table and clasped one of Iruka-san's hands in both of his own. Kakashi looked on in astonished bewilderment.

"Marry this man." Kotetsu-san said. Iruka-san turned scarlet and Izumo-san brought an ill tempered fist down onto his partner's head. "Ow! Zumo-chan!" Kotetsu-san said. The younger bandana'd man relented but tugged Kotetsu-san back into his seat, a hushed "Idiot." emitting from his mouth.

"You, don't get it Zumo-chan! This guy's amazing! How can anyone who makes such an incredible sandwich be a bad person!?"

"Your logic is still as questionable as ever, Ko-chan." Genma-san said.

"Hey, Mizuki's cooking was awful. I think there's something to be said about that." Kotetus-san stated.

Iruka-san tensed in his seat besides Kakashi. The masked man turned his attention to observe the grade-school teacher. "I don't remember there ever being anything terrible about it." Izumo-san stated.

"That's cause he didn't mind you, he hated me and I could tell by the taste of that linguine."

"Excuse me, who's Mizuki?" Kakashi asked.

"Um, my ex." Iruka-san stated after a moment's hesitation. _'Mizuki... A feminine name but didn't Kotetsu-san say it belonged to a 'he'?' _Kakashi wondered, feeling a swell of what felt suspiciously like hope rise in his chest.

"A total asshole." Kotetsu-san stated.

"I'm glad you ended things with him, Iruka-san." Izumo-san stated crossing his arms and nodding. Iruka-san's hands were clasped in his lap and his shoulders were tense. His eyes had an unreadable but notedly unpleasant look in them.

Kakashi quickly moved to change the subject. "Feel free to drop by again and have a sandwich on me." It wasn't graceful and somewhat obvious but Kakashi decided that the sooner they made the transition, the better.

"Seriously Iruka-san, marry him." Kotetsu-san stated earning himself another bonk on the head from his partner.

"It's not that big of a deal, really." Kakashi replied holding up his hands. _'So Mizuki's a man Iruka-san's at least bisexual...'_ He would have been happier if not for the fact that Iruka-san seemed so shaken by the mention of his ex. He reached out and placed his hand on Iruka-san's shoulder. "The offer extends to you as well, Iruka-san." Kakashi stated with a smile. The pony-tailed man looked surprised but shot him a grateful look a moment later.

"Thanks Kakashi-san." He said softly and Kakashi knew that it was for more than the free meal offer.

"Any time." Kakashi stated. He allowed his hand to linger on Iruka-san's shoulder a little longer than necessary and squeezed it briefly before letting go.

"I thought Iruka-san said that you work at the karate dojo with the really awful name." Izumo-san stated.

"Triple K?" Kakashi asked. "Yeah, I have three jobs actually."

"Three?" Izumo-san asked incredulously.

"Yeah, it's fine, I only really work at the dojo three afternoons a week."

"What's your other job?" Kotetsu-san asked.

"I help out at an antique shop."

"Not that I really pay attention to stuff like that but I never knew Konoha even had an antique shop." Iruka-san stated.

"We're one of two." Kakashi replied. "It's pretty small and maybe a few blocks away from the Akimichi's grocery store."

"Our apartment's right around that area." Kotetsu-san stated looking at his partner in surprise.

"What's the store called?" Izumo-san asked.

"Myoboku Antiques." Kakashi replied "It's right between the book store and the veterinarians office."

"Are you buying any books at the moment?" Iruka-san asked.

"Hm?" Kakashi hummed.

"I have some old text books left over from college. The second-hand book store won't buy them back." Iruka-san explained.

"I'd be happy to evaluate them for you. Do you know their titles and authors off hand?"

The two men fell into an easy conversation. Genma-san, Izumo-san and Kotetsu-san all struck up a conversation of their own.

"Do you style your hair that way, Kakashi-san?" Was a question that blindsided the masked man.

"Hm?"

"I've never seen hair that could do that on its own." Iruka-san stated looking up at the silver cluster chaos on top of Kakashi's head.

"Not much, I pretty much let it do whatever it wants. I just try to keep it as neat as possible."

"May I?" Iruka-san asked holding up his hand.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow but still the fact that Iruka-san wanted to touch him brought a smile to his face. "Don't believe me?" He asked playfully. Nevertheless he bowed his head in invitation.

"It's kind of unbelievable." Iruka-san breathed. There was heat in those dark eyes that made Kakashi want to pull the man closer. He shivered as gentle fingers threaded carefully through his hair. "Huh, it's coarser than I imagined." Iruka-san stated still feeling around. "But you didn't lie. It doesn't feel like there's gel or hairspray in it."

"Why would I lie about this?" Kakashi chuckled. "So you were imagining touching my hair, Iruka-san?" The masked man asked a moment later.

"Um well." Iruka-san retracted his hand and set it in his lap. "I was sort of just wondering what it would feel like." He looked up at Kakashi again. "I can't help but be a little curious about you."

Kakashi rose an eyebrow in surprise. "Well if you're curious that's fine, ask about it. If I can't answer I'll let you know." He said shocked at the promise in his own words.

"I'll be sure to take you up on that." Iruka-san said and his tone was warm. "Ah, I think I messed up your hair." He uttered a second later.

"No big deal." Kakashi stated reaching up to rake his own fingers through it when he was beaten to the punch by Iruka-san. There was a little more color in those scarred cheeks and his dark eyes were focused on his task. The moment felt pleasantly intimate.

"Thank you." Kakashi said. The fingers that ran through his hair were rough in texture but gentle in their ministrations. Kakashi leaned into the sensation.

"No problem." Iruka-san breathed. Their eyes finally met and Kakashi had to restrain himself from leaning forward.

"Hey, Iruka-san, don't you think so?" Kotetsu-san's voice blared from the sidelines forgetting, perhaps, that Iruka-san and Kakashi weren't part of his conversation.

A shadow of irritation mixed with relief flickered through Iruka-san's eyes before he turned to look at Kotetsu-san. "What?" Kakashi reigned in his annoyance and disappointment and turned his attention to the discussion.

* * *

About an hour later Iruka-san had gotten absorbed into a discussion about work at the elementary school and had moved over a seat to be able to hear his workmates better. Genma-san and Kakashi sat simply observing for a while before Kakashi thought of something he probably should have asked a while ago. "Still working at the old man's workshop?" Kakashi took a sip from his water.

The other man stiffened briefly. Kakashi didn't turn to look at him. He was certain that this man was the same one he remembered from years ago.

"No, I quit about nine years ago, you?" Genma-san replied his tone was deceptively light.

"Three." Kakashi replied.

"I'm surprised, you were one of the best artisans of our generation. If I recall you were best at replication. I remember hearing about that exceptional armoire you made about twelve years ago. You were only, what? Fourteen? Some of the older craftsmen were in an outrage." Genma-san said. "Even I felt a little envious of your talent."

"I suppose I just got tired of it after a while." Kakashi shrugged.

"There were rumors that you planted roots. Had a couple of kids. People wondered why you didn't bring them in, with your inherent skills."

"They're adopted. Two boys. And while both of them are pretty bright they're not really team players and they were a little old to be put into the program." Kakashi stated.

"And why the hell would you do that?" Genma-san asked, bewildered. "You're at least three years younger than me. Did you want an out so bad you'd adopt a couple of kids?"

"Not particularly, they're distant cousins and their parents died, so I was called in as next of kin." He looked back at Genma-san. "So have you managed to get into step with the rest of the world?" Kakashi steered the conversation away from himself.

"For the most part, I suppose." Genma-san shrugged. "Trust is something you're born with. But it's pretty difficult to learn it again."

"That might be for the best." Kakashi stated.

A lapse in the dialogue followed. Both men pensively looking off into space. Genma-san occasionally sipping fro his sake-glass. Kakashi sitting perfectly still. "What about you?" Genma-san asked after a moment.

"Hm?" Kakashi hummed.

"Any urges to make another armoire?" Genma-san asked his tone was darker.

"I never really had urges, I had assignments." Kakashi shrugged. "I suppose when someone grabs me from my six I still have to put effort into not responding, though."

Genma-san snorted "Damn, I wonder how you could have been such an excellent artisan without the drive. I can only imagine what a force of nature you would have been if you _had_ had it."

"It was time that I got out anyways. My kids finally gave me a good reason to leave." Kakashi stated.

"You have kids?" A third voice interjected. Kotetsu-san asked from beside Genma-san.

"Ko-chan, it's rude to eavesdrop." Genma-san stated grabbing the dark-haired man's head under his arm and carelessly grinding a knuckle into his scalp.

"Owowowowow! Okay I get it! God!" Genma-san released the man and took a sip from his sake cup again. The entire table was still focused on Kakashi.

"Um yeah, I have two boys." Kakashi answered. "They're not mine." He held up his hands defensively. "At least, not biologically. I took them in when their parents died. I think their father was my... third cousin." Iruka-san's dark eyes grew wide. _'Oh, that's right, he didn't know that...'_

"What are their names?" Izumo-san asked. _'Why all the sudden interest in the boys?'_

"Sasuke and Itachi." Kakashi answered.

"Uchiha?" Izumo-san asked a crease appearing between his eyebrows.

"You know them?" Kakashi asked.

"Sasuke-kun was in my class last year." Izumo-san stated. "I don't remember you two even once coming to a parent-teacher conference either." He frowned.

"Ah. Eheheh. Is that so?" Kakashi asked scratching his head and smiling nervously.

Iruka-san snickered. "It's not like you were complaining all that much Izumo-san. At least from what I remember."

Izumo-san frowned warningly in the pony-tailed man's direction. Kotetsu-san blushed and grinned stupidly. Kakashi and Genma-san wore similar expressions of curiosity and slight incredulity. "Please tell me you cleaned up the desk afterwords." Genma-san stated wrinkling his nose.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Izumo-san crossed his arms over his chest.

"Is that so?" Iruka-san grinned. "Then what I walked in on was just the two of you getting really absorbed in your work?" His wicked smile was wide and playful reminding Kakashi very strongly of a small blonde boy who had a problem with volume control.

"You guys are assholes." Izumo-san grumbled taking a long sip from his rum & coke. Kakashi sipped from his water and smiled as the other men joked and laughed occasionally joining in.

* * *

An hour or so later Kotetsu-san was happily nuzzling his partner's neck in a drunken buzz. Izumo-san was trying to pretend he wasn't enjoying it. Genma-san had gone off to have a cigarette and from what Kakashi saw, had struck up a conversation with a couple of older guys standing outside the window getting their nicotine fix.

Finally they were left with some time to speak with one another. Iruka-san did most of the talking and Kakashi sat back and listened contentedly.

"You know, it's kind of odd but I haven't once seen you take a sip of your water and still the amount keeps going down nearly every time I look." Iruka-san said suddenly a little smile in his voice.

"Is that so, Iruka-san?" Kakashi asked turning his head to look at the brunet.

The darker man smiled at him. "It is." He leaned back and Kakashi noticed the semi-permanent flush the alcohol had lent Iruka-san's cheeks was a lovely mix of cute and..._'Sexy'_. Kakashi felt a little surprised at himself. "You must have excellent timing." Iruka-san stated with a smile his tone was playful. _'...Is he... Flirting?'_

"I see, Iruka-san, was this all just a clever plot to find out what was beneath the mask?" Kakashi asked happily playing along. The first couple of years after Kakashi had quit ANBU he had been... paranoid was a good word for it. He had been suspicious of pretty much everyone, even the boys for a short time. Fortunately he had become better at dealing with being out in the open since then. He wondered why it hadn't occurred to him earlier to be more suspicious of Iruka-san _'He just seems so... honest.'_ If anyone had come searching for him they would have known that Kakashi was never seen in combat without his mask. To try and see him without it would be completely useless.

Iruka-san laughed and Kakashi unconsciously moved towards the pony-tailed man gravitating to the warmth of the sound. "You found me out." The grade-school teacher admitted jokingly, his initial smile widening into a grin.

Kakashi chuckled, feeling warm all of the sudden _'Ah, should I?'_ "Hmm... But should I let you see?" He tapped his chin mimicking deep thought and looking up at the ceiling. "A man has no allure if he doesn't have at least a little mystery to him." _'Or in my case, a lot. And most of those mysteries really would be better left unsolved.'_

"...I'm not so sure about that." The scarred man remarked a moment later. He seemed a little nervous but he wasn't backing down. His face was flushed more than it had been but his eyes were clear and direct.

"Iruka-san?" Kakashi asked looking back into those warm dark eyes.

"I think that you'd be pretty alluring either way." His voice was low and Kakashi probably only heard it because of who (or rather what) he was (and had been) The masked man's heart sped up its beating.

Iruka-san took in a deep breath. "It probably says something about me but..." He let the rest of the air out then said in a soft voice "I don't really mind the mask." Kakashi had nothing to say in response. His mind was buzzing with questions _'Does that mean he likes me then?'_ being the most prominent "Hey, um, Kakashi-san."

"Yes?" Kakashi sounded.

"... Nevermind." Iruka-san stated. Another one of those soft smiles appeared and was directed at the masked man. "Can we do this again some time?" Iruka-san asked after a moment.

"I'd like that a lot." Kakashi replied in a softer voice than he had intended. Iruka-san brushed his hair behind his ear again and Kakashi couldn't help but follow the action with his eyes.

"Kakashi-san?" Iruka-san spoke again a few moments later.

"Yes?"

"Next time, could it be just us?" Iruka-san asked. Kakashi could detect the tremors in that voice.

The masked man took a deep breath. Nothing other than what could be described as elation swept over him and he couldn't stop the smile spreading over his concealed face. "Yeah." He replied softly.

Iruka-san's smile was breathtaking. The corners of his lips tilted up showing the upper row of well-placed white teeth. Those coffee-colored eyes shone and his simple beauty in the low light of the bar sent a comfortable warmth throughout the masked man's body. He wanted to reach out and touch Iruka-san again but soon they were pulled into the other men's conversation.

* * *

Later that night on the ride home, Iruka-san piped up "Maybe it would be a bad idea to go out to a bar again." He hummed.

"Oh?" Kakashi asked the beginnings of disappointment sparking in his chest.

"Yeah, you can't drink at the moment right? Because of your medication?" Iruka-san asked.

"Yes." Kakashi stated wondering why Iruka-san was bringing that up.

"Maybe coffee would be better?" Iruka-san suggested.

A small amount of relief swept through him "Coffee sounds good. When I'm working at Takanashi's I can't take normally timed lunch breaks but the antique shop gives me forty-five minutes."

"Great! When's the next time you work at the antique shop?" Iruka-san asked.

"Tuesday, I think." The corners of Kakashi's lips kept twitching, he wondered if he was going to develop some kind of tick because of it. Iruka-san hadn't stopped smiling since Kakashi had agreed to their coffee date.

As they pulled into the driveway of Kakashi's house Iruka-san took Kakashi's hand before the masked man could open the door and get out. The rough feel of the calloused skin was a direct contrast to how gentle Iruka-san's grip was.

"Kakashi-san, before we go in I just want to thank you for the wonderful evening." Iruka-san stated.

"Well I'm more than happy to do it again." The masked man replied. Kakashi hesitated a moment but then reached across the space between them -it was amazing to him how much he felt the need to simply _touch_ this man- and brushed the loose hair behind Iruka-san's ear. "I really like how you look with earrings in."

"...Thanks" Iruka-san smiled and blushed.

"Are you safe to drive? I don't mind lending you the guest room for the night." Kakashi asked still mesmerized by the soft glow of the gold stud in Iruka-san's ear. He brushed his thumb across it.

Iruka-san chuckled. "I'm fine. My last beer was over an hour ago."

Kakashi pulled his hand away and rested it on the console "So, do you think your friends approved?"

"Of what? You?" Iruka-san asked. "Well I know Kotetsu-san certainly did. Genma-san seems to like you just fine too. Izumo-san's just worried about me, he'll warm up to you eventually though."

"Why would he be worried?" Kakashi asked.

Iruka-san paused, the beginnings of discomfort flickering across his handsome face.

"Nevermind, don't worry about it." Kakashi stated. "Let's go liberate Itachi, shall we?" The masked man smiled in an attempt to show that he was fine with leaving things they were for now.

"Yeah." Iruka-san answered, a grateful smile on his lips.

* * *

_'I've never been able to communicate with someone like this.'_ Kakashi mused watching as Iruka-san gently shook Naruto-kun awake in the dark guest bedroom. Naruto murmured and rolled over. Iruka-san sighed in warm exasperation as the little blonde rolled over in his sleep.

Kakashi stepped forward and bent over the boy. "Naruto-kun." He whispered. "I'll buy you all of the ramen you want if you wake up right now."

Naruto-kun grumbled and clung to his pillow a little tighter. _'Of course that didn't work.'_ Kakashi sighed then went to work gently prying the boy's arms from around the pillow. He slid an arm under Naruto-kun's shoulders. Once the pillow was free from the boy's surprisingly strong grip, Kakashi slid his other arm beneath Naruto's knees. He easily picked the ten year-old up and smiled over at Iruka-san. "It didn't seem like he was going to wake up anytime soon." Kakashi whispered and indeed the boy was still sleeping like a log in his arms. "You must be tired and ready to go to bed, right?"

"Thank you, Kakashi-san." Iruka-san smiled. Kakashi turned and headed for the doorway out to the upstairs hallway, Iruka-san's hand a warm, tangible presence on his upper arm. Itachi sat in the kitchen, his hair loose and clothed in his dark red bathrobe over black pajamas. The teen's hands were wrapped around a cup of tea, ginger, if Kakashi's nose served him right.

"Hello, Itachi-kun." Iruka-san greeted softly.

"Hello Sensei." Itachi replied with a polite nod.

"How was Naruto tonight?"

"He wasn't bad, he mostly spent time with my brother. I suppose they tired one another out. They both went to bed at a decent hour without too much hassle." Itachi answered.

"I'm glad to hear it." Iruka-san sighed. "So... You started at eight." Iruka-san looked up at the clock which read 12:08"

"So a little over four hours." Iruka-san hummed. "I know we never settled on a rate but do you mind if I paid you 40 for tonight? 10 ryou per hour?" Iruka-san asked.

"Of course I don't mind, Iruka-san. I don't really feel like I did all that much anyways." Itachi shook his head with the closest thing to a smile he could manage.

Iruka pulled his wallet from his back pocket and slid out an envelope. After briefly examining its contents he handed it over to Itachi. "Thank you again, I can't tell you how long it's been since I've had an evening out." Iruka-san smiled.

"Please contact me again if Naruto-kun needs sitting again." Itachi stated.

"I will." Iruka-san nodded. Naruto stirred in Kakashi's arms but quickly fell back into a semi-peaceful slumber.

"Have a good night, Sensei." Itachi said heading for the stairs.

"You too, Itachi-kun." Iruka-san smiled.

They loaded the child into the back seat of the car and buckled him up. When they were finished Iruka-san came to stand in front of Kakashi. "Have a good night, Iruka-san." The masked man said smiling into those dark eyes.

"You too." The brunet reached for Kakashi's hand, took it and gave it a brief squeeze. "If I remember right the area Akimichi's in isn't too far from the school."

"Only a mile or so, I think." Kakashi nodded.

"Is there a coffee shop near your work?"

"Manna Cafe. It's only three blocks up the street from us."

"And your break would be around...?"

"Noon." Kakashi supplied.

"Alright." Iruka-san smiled. He gave Kakashi's hand another squeeze, smiled that same stunning smile and said. "See you tomorrow, I suppose."

"Yeah, I'll see you." Kakashi responded. Neither of them let go of the others hand. Neither of them wanted to. Iruka-san laughed softly but didn't break their eye contact.

"Bye." Kakashi said smoothing his thumb over the back of Iruka-san's hand.

"Yeah... Bye." Iruka-san released Kakashi's hand which felt oddly cold now. _'This is kind of ridiculous.' _The silver-haired man mused but feeling happier than he could remember ever being before. He raised his empty hand to wave as Iruka-san made his way around the car to get inside.

Kakashi was waving and smiling like an idiot until Iruka-san's car was out of sight. He would have felt embarrassed but at the moment he didn't particularly care, because he had a date. At least, he was pretty sure it was a date, and it was with Iruka-san of all people. He could hardly believe his luck.

* * *

Whoo! That was a bit of a long one! At least it felt like it to me. Review and tell me what you think, I post-poned another Yahiko/Itachi chapter in order to write this one. But the next chapter will be focusing upon our lovely younger pairing (I'm actually even thinking of doing it from Yahiko's point of view, however, I'm not certain about that yet)


	15. Chapter 15

Oh, my gawd this one's long. I'm sick as hell so I rewatched season three of Naruto and God damn it Sasuke! Why. Can't. I. Hate. You!? AAAAHHHH! My pillow won't be dry for another day. I don't know what it is but the battle at the Valley at the End made me cry my eyes out AND THIS IS MY THIRD TIME WATCHING THIS ARCH. So here I am; sniffling, coughing, sneezing, feverish, greasy, eyes puffy and red and my cheeks just covered in tears and my mom walks into my room and starts panicking asking me if I'm in pain. I'm pretty choked up so I just shake my head and point to the screen. She rolls her eyes and walks out again telling me to call if I need anything. I love my madre. :D

* * *

Chapter 15: Sad Bad News Blues and Possible Pedophilia

"Itachi-kun." A low whisper spoke. Slightly rough fingertips raked over smooth, soft skin, through long, black hair, over the ridge of a shoulder blade, rippled across ribs, down the dip of the spine and over the swell of a firm buttock stopped and _squeezed_. Itachi panted. Small pinheads of polished metal gleamed in dim lighting and muscles stretched and flexed beneath light, peach-colored skin. Bright orange hair untamed and slightly dampened by sweat flashed in the poor light like a beacon. Hands flipped him over and ran over his chest, fingers belonging to large hands roughened by callouses tweaked at his nipples. Pierced lips met his as one of the hands crept lower and lower down his torso until it finally came to caress his aching-

With a sharp inhale Itachi's eyes rolled back in his head and he let out soft, choked moan as hot, sticky wetness filled his boxers. A few minutes later, after he'd caught his breath, he groaned annoyedly. Pushing off his covers and lifting the waistband of his pants and underwear away from his stomach he peered down and irritatedly evaluated the white stains on the black undergarment.

_'It's like being thirteen again. Wonderful.' _He thought wryly, standing, taking a change of underwear, and heading towards the bathroom. A small wave of embarrassment passed over him and his cheeks burned pink for just a moment. He washed up and changed his boxers before heading back to his room. Tossing the dirty undergarment into hamper he made his way over to the dresser and pulled out his outfit for the day.

Once dressed, he made his bed, brushed his hair and teeth, and went about his usual morning routine. After that he went downstairs. A moment later he noticed that something was off. It was only seconds before he realized what it was.

Kakashi wasn't in the kitchen.

That, by itself wasn't too unusual. The masked man went on a run after making a meal for the brothers but the dogs were asleep in their usual heap in the corner of the living room, no one had woken them up for their walk yet. There wasn't anything in the fridge that looked like it had been freshly cooked and set aside for Itachi and Sasuke to heat up for breakfast. There was no smell of eggs or anything else cooking. Itachi frowned and shot the clock a glance. 8:48am, Kakashi should have been up for nearly five hours by now. Frowning slightly he climbed the stairs again.

Itachi thought about knocking but opened the door with out doing so a moment later, surprised, briefly, that the door was unlocked. Itachi had only been in Kakashi's bedroom a couple times before but it always surprised the teen how neat and sparsely decorated it was and how dark Kakashi kept it. A moment after entering the sound of soft panting and low, strained grunts reached Itachi's ears. More than a little concerned the teen stepped in further and inspected the man sprawled across the bed. Kakashi's hair was wilder than Itachi had ever seen it sweaty and stuck to his forehead. His clothes were rumpled and twisted. The bed clothes had been kicked off some time in the night. The man's mask was half down and the eye-patch was gone completely. Itachi had seen Kakashi a few times without his mask but the man's left eye had always been covered. Now that he had the opportunity Itachi couldn't help but take a look. A deep, straight scar bisected Kakashi's eyelid. It looked like the wound had been deep enough to harm the eyeball underneath but it still seemed like there was something in the man's eye socket and by the way it was frantically rolling around Itachi would say that it was intact beneath the scarred lid.

"Hnnghh!" Kakashi grunted his hand smacking over the eye his face twisted into an agonized grimace.

"Kakashi!" Itachi sounded, alarm jolting him into action. He took hold of Kakashi's shoulder only to discover a few seconds later that that had been a very. Bad. Idea. He found himself on his back pressed into the bed with his adoptive father's hand on his throat and the man's knee digging into his sternum. Ice cold fear surged through his veins as he looked at the chilling expression in the single dark eye now boring into his. He clawed uselessly at Kakashi's grasp. The hand that wasn't gripping his throat was held aloft, empty, but obviously still dangerous and prepared to do some real damage. He had always felt that something was off about Kakashi but he'd never once felt threatened by him. Not until now.

"Itachi." Kakashi sighed his gaze lost that terrifying edge and the man slumped sideways. "I thought I told you to never come in here." The man touched his face and pulled up his mask. He looked around. Presumably, Itachi thought, for his eye-patch. Itachi found it first, on the floor, near the head of the bed. Numbly, he reached for it.

"Here." He stated mechanically handing it to Kakashi. His mind was blank. It could be the shock. Yeah, probably the shock.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi asked putting it on. "You're not hurt are you?"

Itachi shook his head but touched his throat. All that was left was an uncomfortable lingering sensation of his windpipe being slightly too narrow. Not painful, but certainly disconcerting.

"Good." Kakashi stated.

"You just..." Itachi couldn't finish. The only time he had been that afraid had been when his old house had burned down and he couldn't find Sasuke.

"Sorry." Kakashi apologized a moment later. There was a raspiness to his voice. Itachi looked at him. Kakashi was covering his face "Can you,-guh- hand me that bottle o-on the nightstand." Kakashi panted. Itachi fumbled for the bottle Kakashi spoke of and accidentally knocked it off the nightstand. As Itachi picked it up he caught sight of a picture frame standing beside the lamp. It held four subjects, the only one Itachi recognized was a silver-haired boy with a petulant scowl on his mostly hidden face to be honest the boy reminded Itachi a lot of Sasuke but was unmistakeably a much younger Kakashi. A cheerful blonde man was grinning in a somewhat placating way and seemed to be in the middle of ruffling both young Kakashi's and another boy's hair as if trying to say 'play nice now'. The other boy wore gawdy orange ski goggles and a determined look in his black eyes he looked a little bit like Naruto-kun, actually, especially with that wild black hair. The fourth and final subject was a young girl. She was in the bottom center of the picture flashing a bright smile and two peace signs at the camera. She had purple face-paint or something, streaked in slanting lines an inch or so below her eyes.

"The orange medicine bottle, Itachi." Kakashi urged. Itachi hurried to hand the man his pills.

"Is that why you always wake up so early?" Itachi asked a moment later. "So you don't attack us when you're half awake?"

"I should really not forget to lock my door." Kakashi sighed not answering the question but pretty much giving Itachi one anyways.

"What if it were Sasuke?" Itachi demanded rubbing his throat where he could still feel the traces of Kakashi's grip.

"But it wasn't, Itachi." Kakashi answered gulping down a capsule.

"What's wrong with you?" Itachi asked after a moment.

"Could you specify, please?" Kakashi groaned slumping back against the headboard. He was pale and a sheen of sweat was gradually becoming more apparent as time went on.

"Tell me honestly, You're getting worse, aren't you? What's going on?" Itachi demanded.

"Itachi."

"Tell me what's wrong! What was that?! You looked like you were going to slit my throat a minute ago! What _are_ you!?" Itachi was filled with too many emotions for him to comprehend, fear anger and confusion being the three most prominent.

"Itachi." Kakashi spoke, his tone was hard his gaze was harder. He was sitting up and even though his breath came in short gasps and he was shaking slightly it didn't take any of the authority the man had away. "You'll wake up your brother. Stop shouting."

Itachi scowled. Kakashi met his glare. A moment passed where they simply stared each other down. Itachi lost. Standing from his seat on the bed Itachi headed for the door when his name was called again.

"I have an appointment today." Kakashi supplied as Itachi was just about to grab hold of the door knob. "Tsunade-san said that we're going to 'discuss my options.'"

"Can I co-"

"No" Kakashi's voice was hard again. "My appointment's at noon. I may be back around one." Kakashi stood from the bed. Even if he shook a little as he did his stance was still steady. "Now, how about I teach you how to make an omelet next?" Kakashi asked heading for the conjoined bathroom. "I'll meet you downstairs in the kitchen." He called before shutting the door behind himself.

Itachi paused. The muffled sound of running water filled the room. Itachi scowled again and his gaze swept over the room once more. Gleaming silver caught his eye.

The picture frame on the night stand.

Itachi wondered just who the other three people in the image were. Itachi knew Gai-sensei and Asuma-sensei had both been friends of Kakashi's for a while but neither of them were in there. At least he didn't think Gai-sensei or Asuma-sensei could be he other boy in the photograph. He was about to turn away when something else caught his eye. On a windowsill there rested another framed photo. This one was much more surprising due to the fact that Itachi himself was one of the occupants. It must have been taken a year ago on Sasuke's tenth birthday. Itachi's little brother's face was held in the closest thing Sasuke could get to a smile without smirking. He was sat in front of a pizza -Kakashi had learned that Sasuke disliked sweet things so he had made pizza for the occasion instead of a cake- all of the candles the masked man had haphazardly stuck into the layer of cheese were snuffed out with the traces of smoke clinging to the charred wicks. A younger version of Itachi sat beside the boy and was in the act of distributing plates. Itachi's own dark eyes stared back at him in what he remembered as a fleeting glance at the camera.

Itachi felt like someone was gripping his throat again and he looked away blinking the unexpected moistness from his eyes. He went downstairs to prepare ingredients for an omelet closing the door behind him as he left.

* * *

At one in the afternoon Itachi was texting Deidara and Sasuke had his nose buried in a book again. The sound of the garage door opening was the signal that Kakashi was back from his appointment. Itachi stood from the couch shooting a brief **g2g **to Deidara and pocketing his phone.

Kakashi was in the kitchen. Despite everything that had happened that morning the masked man seemed to look fine at the moment. Or he would have, if not for the slump in his shoulders and the gravity in his dark eye.

"Kakashi?" Itachi asked stepping in to lean against the counter.

The masked man looked at him his eye flickering back to it's usual bored expression as he did so. "Yo." He greeted casually.

"So what did she say?" Itachi asked.

"What did who say?" Sasuke's voice demanded from behind him. He'd followed him in?

"No one Sasu-" Kakashi began looking around Itachi and at the younger Uchiha brother.

"Stop treating me like a kid!" The dark haired boy bellowed. His black eyes were angrier than Itachi had seen them in a long time. "I saw you last night! You were pale and sick and you weren't breathing right! I'd have to be an idiot to believe that there isn't anything wrong with you!"

Itachi was blown away at his little brother's outburst. "Sasuke..." He spoke softly.

Kakashi's tone was one of near exhaustion. Itachi turned as he heard it, his anxious gaze fixing on the silver-haired man who now was taking a seat at the table. "But you _are_ a kid, Sasuke." He sighed. "Even if you've been through more than a kid ever should be you're still both just..." He seemed to be talking mostly to himself something that worried Itachi infinitely more.

"Kakashi." He sounded. He had nothing to say but he wanted an explanation preferably before he had a heart attack.

"I'll be taking some medication. It'll be suppressing my immune system so there's a risk I might get very sick very often." Kakashi rubbed his forehead. "I may have to quit my job at the dojo too."

"Like I care about that." Sasuke snapped. "Why?"

Kakashi leaned back in his chair. "Sit down. You two." He commanded softly closing his eye. The boy's obeyed immediately. "I went to the doctor today." He admitted. Sasuke's head turned, a new breed of alarm in his eyes.

"I'm not sure how to go about something like this delicately so I'm just going to say it. I'm going blind." His tone was flat. Itachi felt the bottom fall out of his stomach but at the same time he felt the hysterical urge to laugh.

No one made a sound. No one moved. All of the tension in the air vanished and was replaced with a loud emptiness that blared inside their skulls.

"H-how?" Sasuke spoke first. His voice was soft. Unbelieving.

Kakashi sighed slowly lifting his arms and pulling his eye patch off. Sasuke leaned forward in his seat the slightest bit. He looked at the both of them with his left eye still closed. "When I was younger I lost my eye in an accident. There was a program that allowed me to get a transplant. They even transplanted some of the nerve that connects my eyes to the brain. It was mainly an experimental procedure." The masked man opened both of his eyes for them to see. The eye was bloodshot and the cornea was clouded over. It looked awful. The moment Kakashi had opened that eye Itachi had wished nothing more than for him to close it again. It looked like an eye that belonged in a corpse. "As you can see this experiment -while it lasted for a long time- is failing now."

"Can't you just get another transplant?" Itachi heard himself asking desparation in his voice mirrored the sensation rising in his chest.

"Tsunade-san doesn't think so." Kakashi shook his head closing his eye and flipping the patch back over it again.

Itachi frowned slightly. "Then get a second opinion." He demanded.

"Tsunade-san has been my doctor since before you were born. I trust her judgment." Kakashi stated sharply. "The immuno-suppressants should ensure that there's no more nerve damage but at this rate we're not really sure what could happen. We know that the eye itself can't be saved. Right now we're just focusing on what's left of the nerve."

"'Not really sure'? How can you be 'not really sure'?" Itachi asked and he couldn't keep the anger out of his voice. "She's your doctor, shouldn't she know exactly how-"

"No one's ever had a successful complete eyeball and nerve transplant, Itachi." Kakashi cut him off. "Once you sever a nerve neither your body nor modern medicine has a way to fix it. Tsunade-san is a genius for even achieving it in the first place."

"Then why-"

"Because my circumstances have changed. We'll leave it at that." Kakashi stated crossly.

The sound of loud footsteps on the wooden stairs punctuated Sasuke's exit. Kakashi leaned forward on the table his hands cradling his face. The two remaining males sat in a long, stricken silence.

Itachi spoke quietly, yet his voice seemed to blare in the quiet kitchen. "So those episodes you were having... they were..." He trailed off.

"I didn't want to tell you two so soon." Kakashi stated.

"What? If it were up to you you would have waited even longer to tell us?" Itachi asked his flat voice accented with a hint of fury.

"I didn't know for sure what was happening until today."

"But you still had your suspicions."

"Things were finally getting better. I didn't want to disrupt it all with flimsy suspicions."

The dark haired teen was silent for a moment. Then asked the greatest question. "What are we going to do?"

"We're going to keep living like we're living with only a few changes. You'll have to continue learning how to cook, I'll teach you. I'll start training myself to function without my vision. At least one of the dogs used to be a seeing eye dog, I know that much. I'll start taking the bus to get used to the stops and it's about time Sasuke starts riding it too, instead of us driving him to school every day." Kakashi listed off._ 'He must have been thinking this through for a long time. Of course he has.' _Itachi mused.

"Things will get harder. " Itachi said after a while. He couldn't feel much of anything.

"Yes, they will." Kakashi affirmed.

"..."

"I'm sorry." Kakashi's tone was genuine. Itachi wished he could see he look in the man's eye but Kakashi's hands still covered his face.

"What?" Itachi asked.

"I'm sorry that you'll have to take on so much so soon." Kakashi sighed.

"..." Itachi couldn't bring himself to say anything. Waves of emotions and overwhelming ideas swept through him at a rate that he didn't know how to handle. He barely registered when Kakashi stood and walked around the table to stand beside him.

A hand patted Itachi on the shoulder. "I'm going up to check on Sasuke. It will be easier, I think, if you contact a friend. You don't have to deal with everything on your own. I'll try to do the same." Its owner stated softly and left the room.

A moment later Itachi followed the man up the stairs and walked towards his brother's bedroom door. He found it open and Kakashi and Sasuke inside.

Sasuke was balled up at the head of his bed glaring pointedly out of the window. Kakashi sat at the end of the bed. Facing away from the boy. Itachi watched and waited until the masked man finally found something to say. "Remember when I said that sometimes strength is showing your weakness?" He said finally. Sasuke didn't answer. He continued on. "I suppose it shows just how weak I was that I couldn't show you and Itachi mine until now." He looked out the window. Itachi flinched slightly at the sound of his name and he took a step back from the door. "I know I have no right to ask you for this, but you need to be strong. Things are going to get a little harder for a while, but it won't last. It never does." He stood from the bed. Itachi headed towards his own room. He heard Kakashi's voice say, almost pleadingly, "Please keep that in mind." Itachi felt that uncomfortable clenching in his throat and his vision blurred a little as he shut his bedroom door behind himself and slid down to curl up on the floor. He stared off into space for a while wallowing in his shock anger and whatever else he was feeling at the moment. He wasn't even sure how long.

'rrrrringrrring'

'rrrrringrrring'

'rrrringrrring.'

_'What's that?' _Itachi wondered.

'rrrrringrrring'

'rrrrringrrring'

His hand wandered to his hip and pulled out the slab of plastic and metal. Simply out of muscle memory Itachi pressed the accept call button and held the phone up to his ear. "Hello?" He was happy that he could at least sound normal in this kind of situation.

"Hey Ice Queen why the hell haven't you been answering my texts? Hn."

"Oh, sorry." Itachi apologized.

Silence followed for a moment. "What's up?" Deidara's tone was serious.

"Nothing." Itachi lied. Apparently he didn't do it very well.

"Yep, I'm comin' over." Deidara stated. "I got the bitch's car today so I'll be over in five. You better be ready to go or I'm kicking your ass. Hn." The call ended. Itachi looked at the screen blankly for a moment. Taking a little while to shake himself out of his daze he finally hauled himself up from his seat on the floor and went downstairs.

"Deidara's coming over." He announced.

"Great." Kakashi stated dryly a phone pressed to his ear. "No, not you Gai, I was talking to Itachi." He said into the receiver. "Alright. Yeah. Wait a minute." He pulled the phone away from his head. "Are you going to class?"

Itachi turned _'How can he be so casual about this?'_ Itachi wondered. The teen looked at the clock, it read 2:13. "I... Don't really want to... Today..." He replied.

"Gai, Itachi won't be at practice today, can you tell Asuma?" Kakashi asked pressing the phone back to his face.

A very loud voice blared through the speakers and Kakashi jumped to hold it a few inches away from his head. "Itachi-Kun, We Will Be More Than Happy To Lend A Shoulder For You To Cry Your Manly Tears Of Familial Grief Upon, But I Must Insist That You Come To This Afternoon Class!" Was apparently Gai-sensei's response to that request. "Kakashi, My Eternal Rival, I Expect You To Be Here As Well! Also, I Do Not Accept Your Two Weeks Notification! Instead I Challenge You To A Drinking Contest To Be Held Tonight!"

"Gai I can't drink." Kakashi murmured into the phone.

"Then An Eating Competition It Is!" Gai declared. "Any No-Shows Will Be Considered An Instant Victory For The Challenger Present! I Bid My Eternal Rival Good-Bye For Now!"

"Alright. Goodbye." Kakashi said looking a little embarrassed as he set the phone down.

"What I wonder is how you can dislike Deidara so much when you're best friends with someone like Gai-sensei." Itachi asked surprised at how normal his tone sounded.

"Gai doesn't throw firecrackers at trick or treaters ranting about art." Kakashi rebutted picking up a book and cracking it open to the first page.

"Touche." Itachi stated thinking back to last Halloween. "If we go out I'll have Deidara drive me to practice."

"Alright." Kakashi said his eye scanning over the contents of the page. "Wait, someone gave him a license?"

Itachi shrugged "I suppose so." The teens eyes looked at Kakashi and noticed at a very large amount of books were stacked on and around the end table beside the masked man's chair. Itachi was going to ask but then concluded himself what Kakashi meant by reading so many books. _'This will probably be the last time he get's to read them...'_ The thought choked him up again but he forced his mind back to the present as Kakashi spoke again.

"Buckle your seat-belt." The masked man commanded.

Itachi nodded. The door bell rang. Itachi went to answer it. "Hey." Deidara grunted leaning against the door frame his hands buried in his pants pockets. "We're going to the mall. Hn."

"Fine, but I can only stay for maybe an hour."

"Whatever." The blonde shrugged. Itachi turned to go up to his room. "Hey! Did I piss you off? Where are you going? Hn." Deidara asked.

"I need to grab my karate gear. You're dropping me off at the dojo later." Itachi spoke.

"Fine." Deidara drawled. "You and your nerdy habits, hn." The blonde followed Itachi up the stairs.

"Jesus, do you really need that huge-ass duffle bag? Hn." Deidara asked as Itachi heaved said duffle bag over his shoulder.

"Not usually but it's more convenient to keep everything together like this." Itachi replied.

"Whatever." Deidara yawned. "Let's go already. Hn."

They made their way to the car, a beaten up sedan that sounded like a dying bear when you turned the ignition, and drove off.

"So you made up with Sasori-senpai?" Itachi asked.

"Shut up! Hn." Deidara blushed and the car sped up a little. "...Not at all... He's been really fucking mad at me and I don't know why. Hn." Deidara muttered a moment later. The good thing about Deidara was that the guy was usually as transparent as they come. He prefered to keep things out in the open and probably didn't even know any other way of operating anyways. He couldn't lie even if he wanted to.

"So what's your problem? You sounded like you were about to slit your wrists any moment on the phone a while ago. Hn." Deidara asked in his tactful way.

"It's nothing." Itachi lied.

"Bullshit. Hn." Deidara grunted. "If you don't want to tell me fine, just don't be all gloomy about it later. Hn." There was a pause then Deidara added "Well, gloomier than usual."

Itachi sighed and leaned back in his seat. It smelled like sulfur and burnt plastic. He leaned forward again. "Kakashi's sick." He admitted.

"Huh? He looked fine to me. Hn." Deidara grunted.

"Well, he's not." Itachi snapped.

"Bitchy, bitchy Hn." Deidara chimed.

"It's you who pushed me to talk about it." Itachi glared out the window.

"Whatever, we're here so loosen up, hn." Deidara stated. Pulling into a parking spot. They exited the car and walked inside. Deidara mumbled something about needing a snack so they wandered into the food court in search of something cheap and warm to eat.

Deidara munched on a sandwich while Itachi sipped from an iced tea. They stepped into the toy store where Sasori-senpai worked and met a dour looking young man standing behind the front desk. His sharp, dark eyes followed the two other teens as they toured through the store not finding anything that much different from when they had been there just over a week earlier.

"Hey, no food in here, blondie." He barked after Deidara accidentally dropped a few shreds of lettuce on the floor.

"Shove it up your ass, you'll have more fun, Hn." Deidara retorted not even sparing a glance in the glaring teens direction. Itachi sighed and took another sip of his tea. "Hey, gimme some of that. Hn." Deidara commanded eying the drink.

"Did you pay for it?" Itachi asked.

"What? No. Hn." Deidara grunted.

"Then no."

"Bitch." Deidara snatched it from Itachi's hand anyways.

Itachi sighed in disgust as Deidara victoriously peeled the lid from the cup and took a sip. "Ew what the hell is this!? Hn." Deidara asked after taking a ridiculously large gulp.

"Iced Black tea."

"Well it's disgusting. Hn"

"Then buy your own drinks from now on."

"Ugh."

"I really hope you didn't backwash."

"You two seem like you're enjoying yourselves." A cool voice stated. Sasori-senpai stared at them with cold, gray eyes. "Itachi-kun, Deidara-kun, do you actually ever buy anything from here?"

Deidara shivered where he stood beside Itachi but answered "We can't just drop in? Hn." His tone an attempt at a joke but sounding nowhere close enough.

"No." Sasori stated flatly and turning to walk away.

No one but Itachi probably noticed the way the blonde's shoulders slumped. "Fine, I'll buy something then will you actually talk to me? Hn." He asked after the redhead took a few steps away. Sasori-senpai turned to look at him, his eyes wide. Itachi decided to duck out then and there. "I'll meet you at *Rots." and he hurried off. _'It's about time.' _He mused.

He crossed the mall sipping his tea and feeling slightly better than before. Navigating the Saturday afternoon crowd he soon came upon the dimly lit store and ducked inside.

"Hey, we're having a sale; two tank- Oh, hi." The violet-haired woman greeted flatly setting a hand on her hip. "Where's that annoying friend of yours?" Her dark, irritable eyes swept over the area surrounding Itachi.

"He'll probably be here soon." The teen replied starting to pass her.

"Just don't break anything while you're here." She said walking away. Itachi, playing with the stud in his ear headed to the back where the earrings were. He kept a discreet eye out for an orange haired man with (probably) too many facial piercings. He looked up and down the display racks. Skull shapes, feathers, cartoon characters, neon colors, and dangling glinting metal greeted him but nothing that he'd actually wear.

"Hey there." A cheerful voice said from maybe a foot behind him. "How are you Itachi-kun?" Itachi turned to face the red head.

* * *

{A/N: POV Switch! Woooo!}

* * *

Saturday Morning (Around 8:00)

Pretty hands. Pretty scent. Pretty eyes. Pretty hair. Pretty face. Pretty throat. Just... So pretty. Those pretty lips wrapped around words spoken in a soft, low voice. "Yahiko-san..."

' . .' The alarm clock blared from it's perch on the bedside table. Well, it wasn't really a table, more of a slab of plywood spray painted black and set on top of a pile of cinder blocks. Most of the furniture in the room, except for the bed and dresser, had a somewhat makeshift quality to them. The bookshelf that held many second hand DVD's was also made of spare lumber and cinder blocks. The green carpet at the center of the scuffed wooden floor was fraying and patched in places and bedsheets where draped over the windows to block out some of the sunlight, which had a habit of pouring in at indecent times in the morning. The window sill held a couple small pots filled with squat little cacti. A dying fern hung in it's pot from a hook in the ceiling. Papers were scattered across the desk as well as a few text books stacked near the edge. Posters of eighties punk bands, comic book heroes, and movies that he'd gotten from a friend who worked at a theatre down the street were tacked,taped or stapled, across nearly every inch of wall space to hide the ugly floral wallpaper. A small TV and a couple video game consoles hid in corner on top of a spindly little table Yahiko had found at a garage sale half a year ago. The clothing scattered over the floor and shoved into the dresser was mostly black, blue or grey. A few studded belts were slung over the back of the chair in front of the desk. The air was slightly dusty and warm from a combination of poor insulation and the summer heat. A shaky arm reached out and took three attempts to find the shrieking alarm clock and smack the 'off' button.

Groaning, the arm's owner pushed himself up and set his feet on the floor blinking blearily down at his toes. "Fucking... Noisy..." He grumbled. He stood a moment later and gathered clothing from various sections of the room. Closet for shirt. Desk chair for belt. Dresser for everything else.

_'Coffee. Need Coffee.' _He pulled the depressingly light coffee bag from the cupboard and scowled as he peered inside._ 'Roommate forgot to buy coffee... Asshole._

Opening the fridge he squinted inside in search of something to wake himself up. His eyes were drawn to a florescent green bottle._ 'Mountain dew... Okay.' _He picked up the half empty bottle, twisted off the top and gulped it down.

_'Flat. But Caffeine...So yeah.'_

…

…

…

_Caffeine will kick in soon. Time for pants.'_ Yahiko looked down at the hand not holding the empty soda bottle. _'Oh hey... pants.'_

Dragging himself through his morning routine Yahiko looked up at the slightly crooked clock hanging above the oven. 8:45. He hurried to finish brushing his teeth and gathering his things. Five minutes later Yahiko plopped into Elvira, turned the key in her ignition, and drove off to work, breaking a few speed limits along the way.

Anko-san frowned as Yahiko stepped inside the store "You're la-"

"I know! I know!" Yahiko said waving his hand and hurrying past his manager.

A moment later he returned and pulled the almighty 'To do' list from under the counter skimming over the tasks that needed doing. He was happy to see that most of them could be done from or near the register.

Anko-san leaned on the counter glaring at him with a raised eyebrow. "Good enough for you?"

"Hm?" Yahiko hummed in question.

"You like to stick around here on Saturdays in case that gloomy kid with the obnoxious friend comes in, right?"

Yahiko took a moment to realize who she was talking about, when he did he coughed and blushed. "Uuuhhhh I guess so."

"That's what I thought." She smirked triumphantly. "I couldn't quite believe it when I found out but you've got a little bit of a crush." She sung.

Yahiko frowned slightly. "Aren't you supposed to be thirty, or something?"

"Isn't he still a minor? How old is he?" She looked like the cat who'd gotten the cream.

"I never asked." Now that Yahiko thought about it he realized that small blank in his knowledge about Itachi-kun.

"If he turns out to be like, thirteen I'm gonna laugh so hard." She snorted.

"He's not thirteen." Yahiko scowled. _'I really hope he's not, at least.'_

"How do you know that?" Anko-san asked.

"Just look at him." Yahiko stated. _'That ass can't belong to a thirteen year old!'_ His inner pervert reassured him.

"Some kids look a lot older than they are." Anko-san hummed.

"Whatever. He's not that much younger than me, I'm sure of it." Yahiko waved his hand and turned to his first task. It was still before the noon rush so he got a decent amount of work done. As the time ticked closer to 12:30 Yahiko's glances towards the door way became more frequent. As Anko-san swung by the counter again Yahiko asked her if Itachi-kun had come in during the week.

"Calm down. He'll come again eventually." She shrugged. "But no, not this week, at least not while I was here."

Yahiko sighed. "Yeah, alright." and went back to work putting up earrings.

12:45 rolled around and Yahiko reluctantly went on his break.

"God, if it really means that much to you, if he shows while you're not here I'll try and keep him around until your break's over." Anko-san griped, crossing her arms and turning to walk away. "Now go away."

Yahiko did so. He tossed and turned on the musty couch in the break room for fifteen minutes checking the clock every minute or so until it was finally time to go back to work. The moment his break finally ended he sprung off of the couch and hurried back to what he was doing.

Anko-san caught sight of him as he hurried out of the back room and rolled her eyes at him. He promptly ignored her shot a quick look around the store and, when he didn't spot the teen he was waiting for, he returned to his earlier task. It was around half past one when Anko-san walked over and nudged him. "Hey, he's here." She muttered. "And his annoying friend's not." She looked a little relieved at that.

Yahiko straightened up and skimmed over the top of the shelves, spotting a familiar head of long, black hair. Yahiko weaved his way through customers and shelves his eyes on his destination. Itachi-kun faced away from him looking up at the rack filled with cheap earrings. The guy wore a black soft- looking long sleeved t-shirt with the sleeves rolled up a third of the way and moderately tight, navy blue, cropped jeans. Comfortable-looking gray, slip-on shoes adorned his feet and Yahiko wondered again why he shopped in a place like this when he always dressed like a model for the GAP. Not that Yahiko was unhappy about Itachi-kun's choice in stores, quite the opposite really, but he couldn't help but wonder. He stepped closer and spoke.

"Hey there." He tried to keep his voice steady but suppressed a wince when it came out a bit louder and more cheerful than necessary. The teen turned to face Yahiko "How are you Itachi-kun?" Yahiko tried again, relieved when his voice came out sounding a bit more normal than before.

"I'm doing alright." Something seemed off about Itachi-kun's tone. "How are you, Yahiko-san?" He wouldn't make eye contact and there was that hint of color in his cheeks that Yahiko delighted in seeing every time they spoke with one another. He would have been happier if Itachi-kun didn't look so, well, depressed. It wasn't an obvious thing. But when you've watched a person for over half a year you notice when their shoulders and head droop just a little more. When their eyes look just a little bit duller. Their lips the slightest bit down turned.

"I'm good." Yahiko replied setting a hand on his hip. He considered the teen for a moment, Itachi-kun shifted his weight in what Yahiko knew was a nervous habit. Finally the pierced man couldn't take it anymore, he reached out and tilted Itachi-kun's face up suppressing a jolt of excitement at being able to make contact with the smooth skin of his face. Itachi's pretty dark eyes were a little wider than usual and the teen's Adam's apple bobbed in his throat. "Hey, you sure you're alright?" Yahiko asked. Although pleased with Itachi-kun's reaction his concern for the long-haired teen was at the forefront of his mind. "What's up?" Yahiko asked.

"I um..." Itachi-kun sighed. "It's really nothing. Everything will be fine. Thank you for asking, though" The younger teen shook his head as if clearing it and again avoided eye contact.

Yahiko frowned and dropped his hand. "Alright." _'Time for a change of topic, I think'_ "So you're already looking for new earrings?" Yahiko asked gesturing to the rack in front of them. _'Yeah, that's a good one.'_

"Yes." Itachi-kun nodded. "I don't think any of them really suit me though." The teen turned around to face the display again looking over the glinting metal and bright plastic. Yahiko chanced a step closer. All he had to do was reach forward a few inches and he could set his hands on the teen's hips... _'No, wait. At work. In public. The guy barely knows me. Yeah, stop it.'_ Yahiko shook his head slightly to clear it.

"I don't know about that, I think there're plenty of earrings here that would suit you just fine." Yahiko stated trying his best to keep his tone light despite how genuinely he meant the words.

"I suppose I don't have much of an eye for these sort of things." Itachi-kun's tone sounded the slightest bit... breathy.

"Well then let me give you a hand." The pierced man replied unable to keep the innuendo out of his voice. _'Fuck it.'_

"Thank you." Itachi-kun croaked. Taking a chance Yahiko set a hand on Itachi-kun's upper back, appreciating the feel of the teen's smooth hair and a warm body under his fingers Yahiko had to remember why he placed his hand there in the first place and after gathering his thoughts he guided Itachi-kun over to the case where the more expensive earrings, gages and facial piercings were displayed.

"You'll find nicer ones over here. And, if you're sensitive to certain metals a lot of these are hypo-allergenic." Yahiko informed his favorite customer. "Do you have a budget today?"

"I only have fifteen ryou." Itachi stated. _'That's... not a lot.' _Yahiko mused looking appraisingly at the case and dropping his hand from Itachi-kun's back.

"You redeemed your points last time with us right?" Yahiko played with the double-ended stud in the bridge of his nose his eyes glancing at the prices. Noticing a few that were just a couple dollars above that, with tax.

"I think so." Itachi-kun replied.

"Tell you what." Yahiko concluded. "If you find something you like that's up to 17 ryou I'll use my employee discount for your purchase, sound good?" _'I'll get yelled at if Anko-san ever finds out... Whatever.'_

Itachi-kun turned those pretty eyes on the redhead. "Why?" He asked looking surprised but it was better than looking depressed, to Yahiko, at least.

"Well, it seems like you're not having the best day." _'Okay... Fuck Fuck Fuck. Let's do it.'_ "Aaaaannnnd" He clicked his tongue and bounced on his heels his hands clasped behind his back more out of something to do to give himself time to change his own mind. "IIIIII kind of like you." Yahiko shot a _'Stupid' _smile over at the teen who was looking like his eyes were going to fall out of his head.

Itachi-kun's cheeks turned pink in that pretty blush he licked his lips and turned his attention back to the case. "Thank you." He muttered. He meant it. Yahiko studied what he could see of Itachi-kun's face carefully and noticed with a surge of glee that the ends of those lips twitched upwards a little.

"No problem." Yahiko probably looked like a six year old who's mom bought the toy he wanted, his arms swinging and his face split into a stupidly wide grin but he hardly cared. Anko-san called from a n aisle over. "Get to work!" She ordered.

"Gotta go. Let me know when you're ready to check out." Yahiko winked, still on cloud nine. "I'll take care of you." He hurried off and greeted the first surly teenage customer standing in front of the counter with a smile so bright it probably singed their overly blackened eyelashes.

As soon as he was done with that rush Yahiko turned and spotted Itachi-kun, who was looking through the basket of facetious pins. "Hey, did you find a pair you liked in there?" The pierced teen asked when he got within a few feet of the other.

"I think so." Itachi-kun tucked his bangs behind his ear flashing a glint of metal in Yahiko's direction.

"Alright, let's see it." Yahiko smiled following Itachi-kun's lead.

"The red square ones." Itachi-kun pointed to the pair in question. Yahiko pulled his eyes away from him for a moment to look at them.

Yahiko whistled. "You have good taste. I really don't know why these aren't more popular." He pulled the keys to the case out of his pocket and took the earrings from the display.

"Do you think they'll look good on me?" Itachi-kun asked his tone was unsure. _'How can anyone with looks like yours be insecure?'_ Yahiko wondered.

"I think almost anything would look fine on you." Yahiko pointed out. It was a fact. As long as it wasn't something ridiculous like neon orange plaid with vomit green stripes Itachi-kun could probably pull off anything he wore. "But these are going to look fantastic." Yahiko reassured. Itachi-kun went into a small fit of coughs after choking on his drink.

"Th-thank you." Itachi-kun gasped. Yahiko restrained himself from thumping the teen on the back.

"Want me to ring you up?" He asked instead a moment later when the younger teen's coughing subsided.

"Sure." Itachi-kun nodded.

Yahiko smiled apologetically then turned to walk in the direction of the check out counter with Itachi-kun in tow. Scanning the strip on the earrings he punched in the manual employee discount and drummed his fingers on the countertop waiting for the register to catch up with the rest of the world. "Okay, fifteen ryou even is your total." He stated. Itachi-kun handed over the cash from his wallet. "Thank you." Yahiko grinned at Itachi-kun reveling in the brief contact of their fingertips brushing against each other's as the bills changed hands. "Want your receipt?"

"No thanks." Itachi-kun shook his head. "I trust you" The younger teen stated softly.

The statement made Yahiko feel warm and bubbly. "I hope your day get's better, Itachi-kun." He couldn't resist one last touch of Itachi-kun's soft skin as he handed the small bag over.

Itachi-kun looked him in the eye briefly then away again, his cheeks turning a soft rosy color. "Thank you, Yahiko-san." His head dropped the slightest bit but his gaze flitted up again to meet Yahiko's. "I'll try." He stated softly. The tone wasn't warm exactly but whatever it was it was genuine. It made Yahiko's heart beat a little painfully for a split second and the pierced man shot Itachi-kun a small smile.

"Yeah, do that for me, will you?" He replied wanting to touch Itachi-kun again. The teen looked down at his feet, muttered a "Thanks again." and hurried away.

Yahiko watched him leave. "Why don't you just ask him out? I've never taken you for the shy type." Anko-san asked.

"Where'd you come from?" Anko-san opened her mouth to reply but Yahiko interrupted. "Nevermind, I don't want to know."

Anko-san scowled. "You know I'm not really sure if you know this but I am the one who signs your paycheck." She grumbled.

"Mmm" Yahiko hummed inattentively his mind still filled with thoughts of pretty raven-haired teenagers with sad, sad eyes.

"Ugh, you're hopeless." She groaned her head thumping against the countertop she leaned on. A moment later she dragged herself upright. "Whatever, do what you want." She waved her hand dismissively turning away. "Be outta here by half past three, okay? None of that overtime bullshit like last month." She walked back to the front of the store.

* * *

At 3:31pm Yahiko stepped out of the staff room twirling his keys around his index finger. Noting the emptiness in his stomach he dropped by the food court and grabbed a slab of half congealed pizza. Shrugging he downed it in less than the time it took to walk through the mall to the exit closest to where he'd parked that morning. Gagging slightly as he finally made it out of the perfume section of the department store he caught sight of the familiar figure of his crush standing on the other side of the glass doors leading outside. Grinning at his luck, Yahiko stepped closer, only to notice that now the teen was glaring down at the cell phone in his hand. Yahiko tried his best not to make any noise as he opened the door, Itachi-kun seemed to be too upset to notice him at the moment anyways.

"Hey, you're still here." He called out after a moment of watching the teen. Itachi-kun turned quickly and Yahiko was happy to see that the frown that had marred his face earlier had lightened just a bit when those dark eyes fell on the pierced man. "You look like your day hasn't improved much since an hour ago." Yahiko tried his best to sound sympathetic and humorous at the same time, making for a very strange combination of facial expressions.

"It's actually gotten a little bit worse." Itachi-kun stated softly turning his gaze to the pavement.

"Anything I can do to help?" Yahiko stepped closer elated that Itachi-kun had finally opened up to him, even if only a little. But he wanted more, hence the closeness.

"You don't have to worry about it." The teen shook his pretty head.

_'Aaaaannd locked out again.'_ He brooded. "C'mon," He winced internally at the whine in his voice. "It's plain to see that you're pretty pissed at the moment. What's up?"

Itachi-kun looked up at him. It seemed like the teen was thinking something over but a moment later he must have settled on a decision since he admitted with a sigh "My ride seems to have ditched me. I have to be somewhere in" He pulled out his phone to check the time. "Less than 13 minutes."

"I can give you a ride." Yahiko snatched at the chance. But of course he kept his tone and stance casual so he didn't freak the poor guy out. Nagato always told him that his presence could be a bit overwhelming at times.

Itachi-kun's eyes widened and his head whipped to face the pierced man. "You don-"

"For God's sake let me in." Yahiko grabbed Itachi-kun's hand. _'Soft...'_ and pulled him towards the parking lot. It's not like this was kidnapping, right? Itachi-kun wasn't resisting all that much and he was just going to give the teenager a ride. _'Yeah.'_

"There's not really a point, he has my gear in his car." Itachi-kun rationalized.

"Gear?" That caught Yahiko's attention making him pause in digging Elvira's key out of his pocket.

"Karate." Itachi-kun answered sounding a little embarrassed. Yahiko was stunned. He tried picturing Itachi-kun in those white uniforms and had to admit it was a little difficult to do so.

"You do karate?" He asked stupidly.

Itachi-kun nodded.

Yahiko shook his head and recovered himself quickly. _'So he has a hobby that keeps him in shape. Okay, I'm fine with that.'_ He mentally shrugged. "Well do you have to do anything in particular or is it just the white outfit you need today?" He asked unlocking and pulling open the door to the drivers seat.

"It's just the outfit today, I think." Itachi-kun stated.

"Do you absolutely need the outfit?" Yahiko asked after Itachi-kun settled himself in the passenger seat an idea sparking in his mind.

"Well, I guess not but-"

"Then borrow a pair of my sweats." Yahiko said hoping that aforementioned sweatpants were still clean.

"What?" Itachi-kun asked.

_'Oh, did I creep him out?' _Yahiko worried. "They should be clean. I know I keep a pair in the back just in case I end up sleeping over someplace. I think I have a tank top back there too, if you need it." Itachi-kun turned to look behind them.

"I really can't accept-" He started looking at Yahiko.

"I want to be closer to you." Yahiko interrupted. He wasn't the type of guy to willingly take baby steps if he could help it. These past few months had actually been extremely frustrating for him. When he had first consciously taken notice of Itachi-kun he was already absolutely fixated on the dark haired teen. He wanted to date Itachi-kun and now that he'd finally gained some footing he wanted to go on to the next step as soon as possible. Also, by the way Itachi-kun would blush and avoid eye contact, Yahiko sort of had a feeling that the younger teen liked him too. "I thought I made it kind of obvious but I can tell you're a bit inexperienced when it comes to things like this." He tried his best to sound like he wasn't trying to insult Itachi-kun even if he was being pretty blunt about it. Yahiko held his breath for a moment while he waited for Itachi to say something.

A choked "Alright." reached Yahiko's ears. He wasn't sure exactly what that meant but he decided that he wasn't going to push for everything right away. He had no desire to scare the teen off.

"Now where am I headed?" Yahiko changed the subject.

"Do you know where the Triple K is?" Itachi-kun asked after a moment.

"Never heard of it." Yahiko frowned. _'Wait, Triple K as in-?'_

"Then the Bridgestone library?" Itachi interrupted his train of thought.

"Mmmm... any restaurants around the area?" Yahiko asked. The older teen had worked at a few restaurants before he decided he really shouldn't be around fire for more than two hours at a time due to his unintentional habit of igniting things that shouldn't be.

"There's Komui's Bar and Grill about a block away." Itachi-kun supplied.

"Alright. Got ya." Yahiko turned the car on and drove out onto a road. "You're strapped for time right? Go ahead and change in the back." He swore in his head that his intentions for saying that were completely innocent... at least, they started off that way.

"Um..." Itach-kun hummed looking at his knees with that small blush that lit up his features so nicely.

"I promise not to peek. Scout's honor." Yahiko tried for a reassuring smile but it probably came off as more of a leer. _'I swear I'm not creepy... Date meeeee.'_

Itachi-kun frowned. "A-alright." He complied after a moment and climbed into the back of the car. Despite the tantalizing jingle of a belt buckle, a zipper being drawn down and the shuffle of denim being discarded, Yahiko miraculously managed to keep his eyes on the road without a single glance in the rear view mirror.

"Where was the tank top?" Itachi-kun asked after a moment making Yahiko jump slightly.

"Try the far back if it isn't on the seat." Yahiko stated trying himself to remember where he could have tossed it.

The sight of a pale foot wobbling on the edge of Yahiko's periphery drew his attention to the mirror. _'What a view...'_ He thought staring at the pert butt reflected in the rear view mirror _'Ha, rear view...'_ His mind thought stupidly as he continued appreciating the sight of Itachi bent over the back seat. With a huff Itachi-kun straightened slightly. Worrying that he'd somehow had been caught Yahiko tore his eyes from Itachi-kun's back and planted them firmly on the road once more.

"We're closing in on the restaurant, where do I go from there?" Yahiko asked catching sight of a wooden sign declaring Kamui's restaurant's existence to the world.

"Go straight for another block after Kamui's, it's going to to be on your right." Itachi-kun instructed after assessing his surroundings for a couple seconds. Yahiko heard another shuffling of cloth and his eyes flitted up to the mirror again. Bit by bit Itachi-kun's bare stomach and chest were revealed smooth pale skin and the obvious hint of muscles. A barely there happy trail and a taut little bellybutton. Defined pectorals shifted beneath the creamy skin and a pair of dusky pink nipples were revealed. Yahiko felt a little heat in his face, among other places, and his heart rate and breathing quickened. Darting his eyes away when Itachi-kun had finally pulled the shirt off over his head he waited a few seconds before making an attempt at one final look. His eyes raked over the abdominals again and noticed the hands grasping at the hem of the tank top were still. He looked up and his eyes met with Itachi-kun's accusatory stare.

_'Oh, well, fuck. He caught me.'_ Yahiko surmised. "Couldn't resist just one peek." He winked. _'I wasn't really doing anything terrible, right? Right?'_ However he did return his gaze to the road.

"What's the time?" Itachi-kun asked after a moment.

"4:05" Yahiko answered. He spotted the building with three red capital K's adorning the front. He pulled into the parking lot and just drove for the walkway in front of the door.

"Shit." Itachi-kun cursed softly gathering his things while trying to pull on his shoes. His phone fell out of his pants pocket and he swore again.

"I'll bring it all in, you go." Yahiko commanded as he came to a stop in front of the doors to the dojo. After Itachi-kun hurried inside Yahiko parked his car. Digging through the back of the older teen gathered and folded Itachi's clothes. Recalling the distinctive clatter of a phone being dropped as well Yahiko searched the floor. Then beneath the seat. An unfamiliar device shone back at him from underneath a joint in the chairs sliding mechanism and he reached for it.

As he surveyed the cell phone for any damage an idea occurred to him. Biting his lip anxiously he looked from side to side, then behind him, before pressing a button. The screen lit up and with a little jolt of delight he discovered that there wasn't any sort of pass code to punch in. Again making a brief glance around his thumb tapped over the little phone icon. It popped up with the contact information of someone named Kakashi "His older brother." Yahiko mumbled backing out of the page to the main contacts list. His eyes widened in surprise when he noticed that there were a only dozen or so other names in the list. _'Home, obvious. Sasuke's his little brother, right? Deidara... What an odd name.'_ He skimmed over the remaining names but none of them really rang a bell. Sasori, Hidan, Kisame, Iruka-sensei, Zetsu, KKK, Restaurant, and Myoboku's. Looking over the screen he quickly found the button to add a new contact. He tapped it and entered his own name, number and address into the phone. After that was done he shut the phone off and slid it into his own pants pocket for safe-keeping making a mental note not to forget to give it back to Itachi-kun.

After closing and locking his doors he went inside. Peering into the first room he came to with an open door he spotted a bunch of kids and Itachi's older brother, who seemed to be the teacher, inside. Instead of actually teaching at the moment Kakashi-san had his nose stuck in a book while the kids were lined up single file and waiting their turn to get a hit on the punching bag. A kid Yahiko identified as Itachi-kun's younger brother was beating the living crap out of the sack of sand. _'All of them are in karate? Yeesh.' _Yahiko wondered watching as the kid tried his best to destroy the the punching bag. The sound of cloth tearing made Kakashi-san lift his eyes from his book and Yahiko continued to observe as the masked man hurried over to make sure the massacre of the punching bag didn't continue. The kid was pulled away from the rest of the group who were told to continue as their instructor grasped Sasuke-kun by the shoulders and took a knee in front of him. Yahiko was much too far away to hear what they were saying to one another but deduced that the conversation didn't end well by the way the boy shoved Kakashi-san's hands off of him and stomped off to the back of the line again.

_'What a brat.'_ Yahiko surmised raising an eyebrow at the kid's behavior. He shook his head briefly, scolding himself for judging someone without knowing their situation entirely. _'Itachi-kun's in a bad mood today too. Something that would put an expression like that on his face is bound to make someone younger even more upset.'_ He surmised.

A second later the pierced teen felt eyes on him. His gaze was drawn to the others and found Kakashi-san heading towards him with a wave and a casual smile, at least Yahiko guessed Kakashi-san was smiling. "Hello, Yahiko-san. Right?"

"Yes. It's nice to see you again, Kakashi-san." Yahiko greeted with a small wave of his own as the masked man closed in on him.

"It's nice to see you too, but what exactly are you doing here?" Kakashi-san asked good naturedly. Yahiko couldn't be certain but the masked man seemed a bit down as well. He looked a little pale too.

"Ah, I dropped Itachi-kun off here. We were running a bit late." _'Probably shouldn't tell him that Itachi-kun changed in the back of my car, just in case.' _"And he left some things in my car." Yahiko presented the clothes in his hands. "So I came in to return them."

Kakashi-san stared down at the clothing for a few seconds before saying. "I see, well, if you'd like you could leave this with me and I'll make sure he gets them later." The sentence was said a little lighter than his tone had been before.

"Um, actually, I was hoping that I could go and watch him practice." Yahiko stated.

"Really?" Kakashi-san asked mildly surprised. "Alright, he'll be in Asuma's room. Down that hallway and the third door on your right." Kakashi-san directed. "As long as you keep quiet and out of the way Asuma should be fine with you watching."

"Thank you, Kakashi-san." Yahiko grinned.

The masked man nodded and turned halfway back to attend to his class "Please continue to take care of Itachi in the future." He said. The tone worried Yahiko slightly. _'Is there something wrong with Itachi-kun?'_

"Excuse me!" A little voice called. He looked down at his side and found a small brunet girl standing by his hip. He stepped a little to his side to let her through the door he'd previously been blocking. She thanked him, bowed as she was just about to enter the door then scampered inside. He smiled a bit and walked away in the direction of Itachi-kun's classroom.

Yahiko stepped over the threshold of the room bowing his head slightly, feeling that it was disrespectful not to. His eyes scanned over the inhabitants of the room noticing that there were drastically less students in this class than the younger one Kakashi-san was teaching. Eight including Itachi-kun. The younger teen appeared to have spotted Yahiko first. When they locked gazes Itachi-kun seemed surprised but the long haired teen seemed to recover quickly and turned away. Yahiko understood that this was probably something he had to focus on but... _'Not even a wave, some sort of acknowledgement?' _He couldn't help the slight pout that came to his lips nor the small pang of disappointment in his stomach.

"Hello, who are you?" A large bearded man with a toothpick sticking from his mouth asked stepping towards him. Yahiko noted the white outfit and the black belt with four red stripes at the end and assumed that this man was the Asuma Kakashi-san had referred to. Asuma-sensei came to a stop a few feet away and crossed his arms over his chest casually.

"Tendou Yahiko." Yahiko responded nodding his head respectfully but unable to keep his eyes wandering over to try to catch a glimpse of Itachi-kun's movements. "I'm Itachi-kun's friend."

"Sarutobi Asuma." The man supplied "You're here to return his uniform?"

"I don't have it but I brought him his street clothes." Yahiko presented the clothing once again.

"Alright." Asuma-sensei seemed sightly annoyed but Yahiko shrugged it off watching the man's broad back as he stepped away. Yahiko turned to face the rest of the room to watch Itachi-kun. "You want to stick around and watch?" Again asked with the surprised tone Kakashi-san had used. Yahiko had completely forgotten to ask if it was alright in the first place.

"Yeah, if it's not too much trouble." He replied with an apologetic smile.

"I don't have a problem with it." The bearded man shrugged.

Yahiko grinned and turned his attention to Itachi-kun who after a quick glance back and away again did this funny little thing with his head and shoulders that Yahiko decided to interpret as an 'Okay.' Grinning like a loon Yahiko found a good, out of the way, spot against the wall and sat down. Placing the clothes and phone in his lap.

A few minutes later Asuma-sensei clapped his hands and Yahiko was vaguely reminded of the short time when his step-dad had thought it was a good idea to send him to boot camp over the summer by the classes reaction. "We're going to do some training with the kama today. We only have five sets so two pairs of you are going to have to share. Sound good?" Yahiko, not knowing what the hell a kama was merely sat by, waited and watched.

"Yes Sensei." The class cried in unison. _'Definitely like boot camp.'_ Yahiko thought.

"Okay, we'll review." Asuma-sensei called pulling two foam rubber sickle things from a duffle bag and quickly falling into a demonstration. Yahiko recognized their shape from a few crappy kung fu movies. Even though Yahiko guessed that these were somewhat basic moves he was pretty sure that he'd lose a couple of fingers if he tried any of them with the real weapons and even so he'd probably drop the fakes multiple times.

When Itachi-kun stepped up Yahiko unconsciously leaned forward the slightest bit. Itachi-kun's eyelids lowered and his features softened. He seemed to go into his own different world and what a world it must have been. Every move was swift and executed perfectly, although Yahiko certainly knew that his opinion was biased he still sat in genuine awe as he watched his crush glide through the moves. In the movies when the martial artists fought with these things their movements had always been jerky and forceful but Itachi-kun... Itachi-kun moved in a way completely his own. He made it actually seem like a dance. Which, no doubt, sounded pretty cliché but Kami-sama could that boy move.

"None of his friends have come in to watch before. " Asuma-sensei said from beside Yahiko. The pierced man had been so absorbed in Itachi-kun that he hadn't even noticed the other man had come to stand next to him. He chuckled "Pick your jaw up off the floor kid you're drooling."

Yahiko jumped and clicked his mouth shut. He swiped a thumb across his chin and indeed discovered that he had been drooling a little. "Sorry about that. When he said he was in karate, he never mentioned that he was that good at it." Yahiko murmured a little embarrassed.

"Not a lot of kid's his age brag about taking Karate, I'm guessing. It's not exactly biggest chick magnet in the world." Asuma-sensei smirked. "Still he's got a lot of talent. We're hoping that he'll go far in this year's tournament." The man mentioned. They watched as Itachi-kun was taken into conversation with a white haired boy with pale, silvery hair, and strange markings on his forehead and beneath his green eyes. "It's odd though, he seems a little off today, do you know what's going on?"

"He wouldn't say." Yahiko shook his head. _'That's "off" for Itachi-kun?'_

"Hm." Asuma-sensei grunted.

* * *

When Asuma-sensei called for the end of the class Yahiko grinned at Itachi-kun as he approached. "You didn't have to stay for the entire class." The teen said tucking his hair behind his ear.

"I know. I wanted to, though." Yahiko stated stretching. "Watching you was incredible, by the way." He spotted that twitch of the lips and the color that dusted those cheeks due to the compliment. It only fed his giddiness at actually being here with Itachi-kun. "So, do you have a ride home?" Yahiko asked. _'Oh wait, his brother's here.'_

"You stayed because of that?" Itachi-kun quirked an eyebrow at him. "Kakashi will give me a ride home."

"Oh..." Yahiko hummed, a little disappointed. "Kakashi-san's your brother, right?" Yahiko-san asked. _'Just to be sure. Why am I even making sure of this?'_

"A distant cousin." Itachi-kun replied. "Why?"

"No reason." Yahiko really couldn't find one he just... wanted to know their relationship...

"I'll return these after they've been washed." Itachi-kun said a moment later plucking at the tank top he wore. Yahiko realized now that it was actually a bit loose on him. Allowing the redhead a couple peeks at Itachi-kun's collar bone. His eyes moved lower glancing over the outline of defined pectorals and lightly muscled arms. "Alright." Yahiko hummed tracing the line of a slim thigh in the somewhat lose sweat pants with his gaze. "I like the way you look in my clothes." He stated. At the moment he really didn't have the presence of thought to realize that this was perhaps a bit more straightforward than what Itachi-kun could was brief pause and Yahiko snapped out of it and pulled his gaze up to Itachi-kun's face which was partially hidden by his bangs but it was obvious that Yahiko had embarrassed him. At least a little bit.

"Thank you... I-I suppose." Itachi-kun thanked softly.

"And IIIII hope you don't mind but..." Yahiko changed the subject quickly, hoping not to make Itachi-kun too uncomfortable. He swallowed nervously "...I took the liberty of adding my number to your contacts. Feel free to call me if you're stranded again or, of course, if you just want to hang out sometime." His heart sped up anxiously he tried to keep some confidence in his voice and stance but the smile on his face probably came off as more of a grimace. "Which I'd really like to do with you sometime soon." He mentioned rubbing his arm and looking up at the ceiling feeling a bit of heat in his face as well.

"...I will." Itachi-kun said making Yahiko's gaze whip down to his face. "Yeah." The younger teen nodded.

Yahiko deliberated for a moment before asking, perhaps a bit too loudly, "Can I come watch you here again?"

Itachi-kun took a moment to answer. "...Yeah. I'm doing a graduation set tomorrow, if you're interested in coming."

"Same time?" Yahiko asked. Tommorrow was one of the days he actually didn't have to work this week.

"No, at three." Itachi-kun shook his head.

"Here?"

"Yeah."

"Alright." Yahiko beamed "It's a date then." He declared too happy to fully contain it. Yahiko couldn't stop smiling even after they had left the room together.

They walked to the front of the dojo again and were coming up on Kakashi-san's classroom when Itachi-kun stopped in his tracks. Yahiko, a little taken aback followed the younger teen's gaze and his eyes landed on a brunet man with a deep, horizontal scar across his face and long, brown hair pulled up into a high, bushy ponytail. His brows were furrowed in concern and his dark eyes were directed at Kakashi-san. "Are sure you're alright?" Yahiko heard him ask.

"I'm fine Iruka-san." Kakashi-san stated. Yahiko noticed the slight twitch in Itachi-kun's eye but went back to watching the other pair of men a second later. He noticed the way the pony-tailed man's arms twitched forward a bit, as if he wanted to reach out and touch something.

A moment later the scarred man frowned but his tone was light enough. "I don't believe you for a second but..." The one arm finally did reach forward and took hold of Kakashi-san's hand so briefly and so discreetly that no one other than they, Itachi-kun, and Yahiko himself probably would have noticed it. "Try to look after yourself, alright?" He gave Kakashi-san a worried smile. It was a moment filled with obvious intimacy. Whether close friends or lovers, Yahiko didn't know, but he immediately felt a little ashamed that he had intruded upon it. It had, however shed some light on the fact that what was going on with Itachi-kun and Sasuke-kun also related to Kakashi-san somehow if his brunet lover/friend/? and Yahiko were reading the masked man right, that is.

He stored that thought away for later and directed his attention to Itachi-kun who was still watching the two other men. Yahiko, by nature was either a very reckless or very courageous person. Often Konan and Nagato would say the latter but most of the time when Yahiko took a risk it usually paid off well for him. He hoped that would be the case with what he was about to do a moment later. Lifting his arm he wrapped it around Itachi-kun's shoulders curling his fingers around the younger teen's shoulder. While he felt Itachi-kun tense beneath his arm he didn't hear any outright protests or complaints. His mind became at ease when he felt Itachi-kun relaxing underneath his touch bit by bit. He chose not to look at the slightly shorter male. Preferring instead to just keep touching him. Without anything else really to look at, he closed his eyes and felt his body naturally take a relaxed position. He relished in the warmth and smoothness of Itachi-kun's skin underneath his fingers. Feeling contentment hum through his brain his head drooped to the side a bit and he allowed his mind to go blank.

"Yahiko-san?" Itachi-kun's low voice called softly.

"Mmhm?" Yahiko-san mumbled, not opening his eyes just yet. He really hoped he wasn't going to be asked to take his arm off of Itachi-kun.

Itachi-kun took another few seconds to speak but Yahiko didn't really mind all that much. "Maybe, after the graduation set.." Yahiko cracked open an eye. His one-eyed gaze was met with set of determined, pretty, black orbs. "...We could have dinner... or go to a movie?" He watched the way Itachi-kun's Adam's apple bobbed and a pink tongue darted out to moisten the younger teen's bottom lip in his nervousness. _'I want to kiss you.'_ Yahiko whined internally feeling more happy and frustrated than he ever remembered being at the same time.

"Whatever you want to do I'm up for it." Yahiko declared softly squeezing Itachi-kun's shoulder with a smile. "I think I've already seen most of the action movies though." He mentioned.

That little shadow of a smile tugged at Itachi-kun's lips again as the younger teen diverted his gaze down to his own feet. "Alright." He said softly. As Yahiko watched him he realized that he was falling, fast and hard.

"Hey, Itachi-kun." Yahiko spoke up, just remembering something.

"Hn?" Itachi hummed in question.

"How old are you?"

"Nearly seventeen, why?" Yahiko could hear the raised eyebrow in Itachi-kun's tone.

"No reason." Yahiko grinned. _'Knew it.'_

* * *

So, what do you think? I think the language itself is a bit better this chapter. Again, sorry for the wait but this was a long one! I wanted to do both of our boy's views on things so I ended up writing a lot more than I initially intended to. I love my readers and their reviews. :)

*I've decided 'Rots' is going to be the name of the store Yahiko works at.

*Kama: A pair of sickle-like weapons. You've probably seen them before.


	16. Chapter 16

Helloooooo. :)... I'm happy, but conflicted about it. :T

To the person who stayed up until 2:30 and was late to work the next day: I'M SO SORRY THAT YOU LOST YOUR JOB! (I'm not-so-secretly very happy that you like my fic so much though.)

* * *

Chapter 16: Cozy Cafe's and Coffee Confessions

After Saturday karate practice both Naruto and Iruka drove home in thoughtful silence. Iruka briefly wondered about Naruto's strange silence. When he asked, the boy shook his head and said it was nothing. Furrowing his brow in concern Iruka focused his attention on the road his mind questioning everything that could be troubling the little blonde and dismissed each of them quickly. _'Did he notice it too?'_ Iruka wondered thinking back to the masked man's slumped shoulders, pallid complexion and the stiffness of his smiles. His concern for Kakashi-san had provided the courage Iruka needed to reach out and touch the man, even if it was just to hold his hand.

Kakashi-san had cradled (there was no other word for it) his hand so delicately. It felt strange to be touched like that. Three years of nothing but the clumsy or timid hands of children, friendly jostling and limited, necessary contact sensitized Iruka to the once familiar touches of a lover. But even then, before Iruka had broken it off with his last relationship, no one had ever been quite so gentle. Not that he was looking for gentle really, he wasn't a virgin schoolgirl on her first date, but still... it was nice to know that Kakashi-san felt that he was someone to be valued. He smiled softly. His hand recalled the sensation of Kakashi-san's touch. He closed it into a loose fist pretending, just for a moment, that he was still holding onto calloused, slightly bony fingers.

* * *

Sunday morning was sleepy and slow. Iruka lazed in the unnecessarily large antique bed in the corner of his room. Feeling antsy he rolled over, wanting to go back to sleep, but unable to since his body nagged him to put it through its usual Sunday morning routine. His doctor told him that he still couldn't do anything high impact on his ankle but the rest of his muscles twitched and whined to be used again. Finally giving up Iruka rolled out of bed and put on a white t-shirt and brown cargo shorts. The doctor had never said anything about just walking. Sloppily tying his hair into a ponytail he squinted at the little digital clock set on the back of the toilet.

8:43am.

Sighing Iruka scratched his chin happy that at least he wasn't in need of a shave today. Shuffling down the hallway. He knocked before opening the door and calling inside. "I'll be back in an hour or so. Don't touch anything that heats other things."

A muffled "Hrphyumph" was the only response to Iruka's command and the pony-tailed man took that as an 'Okay.' Munching on a pop tart and pouring coffee into a travel mug Iruka gathered his keys, phone, and wallet from various spots around the apartment and slipped them into his pockets. He locked the door behind him just in time to catch the old widow who lived across the hall leaving for church.

"Good morning, Watanabe-san" Iruka greeted.

"Oh, good morning, Umino-san." She turned and smiled. "How are you? Oh!" She gasped "Did you hurt yourself?" She held a wrinkled hand to her mouth daintily.

It took a moment for Iruka's mind to catch up with where exactly she was looking "I had a nasty-" _'Mysteriously nasty...'_ Iruka's mind interjected. "-fall about a week ago. I'm almost completely healed though." Iruka answered.

"Is that so? Well I'm happy to hear you're on the mend." Watanabe-san nodded.

"Thank you." Iruka smiled.

After a few more minutes of chatting Iruka waved his elderly neighbor goodbye and headed for the stairwell. Morning sunlight greeted Iruka as he stepped outside. The air already had some heat to it but a pleasant breeze kept Iruka from breaking into a sweat. Old couples and families with young children mostly populated the walkways. Iruka allowed his mind to wander again back to the low voice of a man that he barely knew but felt alarmingly attracted to. Iruka half wished that it could be Tuesday already. Sipping from his coffee he banished the thought. He'd seen Kakashi-san at least once nearly every day the past couple of weeks after all. Feeling a twinge in his ankle Iruka decided to sit down on a nearby bench to give the aching joint a break. He still wrapped it even though he was told it wasn't necessary anymore. Iruka looked down at it. When he went into urgent care the doctor had asked if Iruka had already been seen due to the quality of the wrapping. The answer Iruka gave was no, of course, but the pony-tailed man wondered.

He knew next to nothing about Kakashi-san. The man wore a mask, he'd taken in two younger cousins who's parents died. People tended to be explosively knocked away when he ran into them, the man taught and was excellent at karate, sold antiques and, according to Kotetsu-san, made a killer grilled chicken sandwich. The main fact Iruka was focused on for the time-being was that this man seemed a little sad yesterday for some unknown reason. Iruka sighed. That was the extent of his knowledge on Kakashi-san. The list of facts was so short it was depressing.

Deciding that movement was necessary. Iruka rose from his seat and continued on his walk. Hopefully on their coffee date -Iruka's internal organs did a giddy waltz around his ribcage at the fact that it was indeed a date- Iruka would get some time to ask Kakashi-san a little about himself.

He returned to the apartment after another thirty minutes of walking only to be rushed by a little blonde at the door.

"Naruto, you're up?" Iruka asked kicking off his green flip flops. _'He even got dressed.'_

"Yeah, I'm hungry." Naruto frowned scratching his own empty belly.

"Alright, I'll make pancakes." Iruka stated deciding to focus his attention on the emptiness of his own stomach at that moment instead of mysterious karate teachers. Naruto shot his adoptive father a wide grin and ran to the kitchen with Iruka following much more calmly behind.

* * *

Monday morning was chilly and drizzly thunder storms were predicted to arrive in the evening and Naruto's mood seemed to match the weather. Iruka had asked a few times since Saturday evening if there was something bothering Naruto but the boy had refused to speak a word of it. "You can tell me anything, you know that, right?" Iruka reminded softly. Naruto nodded. "Alright." Iruka sighed driving on.

As they parted at the front of the school Iruka fussed over him a little more than usual adjusting the boy's shirt collar and telling him to behave today. To Iruka's relief Naruto reacted to his coddling in his usual Naruto-ish way. "Iruka-sensei!" The boy whined struggling to get away from Iruka's cosseting hands an embarrassed flush on the boy's scarred cheeks.

Iruka chuckled and rumpled the boy's hair just for the sake of it and snickered as the boy batted the grade school teacher's hands away from the flaxen chaos on top of his head. Retracting his hand Iruka said goodbye to the little blonde and shooed him off to 8b while Iruka himself turned in the direction of his own classroom. The rest of the day went by uneventfully.

Tuesday was a little more interesting. In the morning, Naruto had seemed to be back to his usual loud rambunctious self. Iruka still didn't like that the boy was keeping things from him but at least, he reasoned, Naruto was happy now. Just to be sure, he woke up a little earlier to make pancakes that morning. He put a couple chocolate chips in Naruto's just for the hell of it.

* * *

Iruka hummed softly as he straightened his shirt collar. Noon was swiftly approaching and his students were were absorbed in their activity of finishing crossword puzzles with the theme of Konohagakure's history. Konohamaru had only tried to prank him once so far this morning which was usually a pretty good sign. He had briefly wished yesterday that he were on before-school care duty again this week so he was able to see Kakashi-san Monday morning but had shaken his head at himself in slight annoyance _'I'm meeting him soon. It's finally Tuesday and we're going out to coffee and lunch.'_ His stomach performed an excited back flip. He wore one of his nicer shirts today a button down in a light olive color that he thought set off his skin tone quite nicely. He decided on not going all out with the pants since he did have to deal with children for most of the day. He wore dark jeans instead of the slacks he had been tempted to put on this morning. If Kotetsu-san or Izumo-san spotted him in such formal clothing at work they'd get suspicious immediately. Iruka truly appreciated his friends, but they could definitely be obnoxious a lot of the time.

"Iruka-sensei? I finished." Moegi presented the slip of paper.

The puzzle on it was complete. "Good Moegi, put it in your packet and then, if you like, you can start on this one today as long as we have time left before lunch." Iruka said giving her a Konohagakure themed word find next. The little girl grinned and took the paper handed to her, scampering off to her seat.

Smiling slightly Iruka continued on with his plan for tomorrow's science class glancing up at the clock often an counting down the minutes until lunch would arrive. Finally, the bell rung and Iruka stood from his seat as everyone piled out of the room "No running in the hallway!" Iruka called after the horde of children as he packed up. After a moment's deliberation he decided to take his work bag with him in case he had to wait a little before Kakashi-san arrived. He'd already looked up the address of the coffee shop online and knew exactly where he was going. Humming he headed for the parking lot.

"What's got you so happy, Iruka-saaan?" A smirking voice asked.

Rolling his eyes Iruka greeted. "Hello Kotetsu-san."

Kotetsu-san snickered and caught up to stand at Iruka's side. "Taking your lunch break to go see Hatake-san, huh?"

"Maybe." Iruka answered with a little half smile.

"Well, have fun, I'll tell Izumo you won't be coming to lunch." Kotetsu-san called hurrying down the hallway to the break room.

"See you!" Iruka called. He'd already let Naruto know that he wouldn't be at school during lunchtime. Naruto was luckily, or perhaps unluckily to preoccupied with his own thoughts to even ask why. Iruka slid into the driver's seat of his car and started the engine. It took him a little time to find a parking space but he still had enough time before noon to get to the shop if he kept a quick pace. He ducked into the small cafe and inhaled deeply as the rich smell of freshly ground coffee beans wafted to his nose. The air was warm and a little dusty inside. The interior was dark in a sort of cozy way just light enough to read a book and not strain your eyes.

The walls were each painted a different color. Muted tones of cream, red, brown, and green managed to brighten the room and create a calming atmosphere at the same time. Squishy chairs and small tables that were almost small enough to be considered barstools were crammed in a sort of organized chaos along the long coffeehouse's side wall. An old brown couch that simply begged to be napped on sat invitingly in the back of the shop. Not a single piece of furniture matched but Iruka felt like it suited the place well and added to its overall charm. A counter with colorful murals painted across it was manned by a single bored-looking young woman with many studs in her face and large florescent pink plugs wedged in her stretched earlobes. Iruka vaguely ondered why she thought that was attractive but discarded the thought quickly

Iruka glanced around the cafe another time, only three other people could be seen and none of them bore the gravity-defying silver hair or the distinctive mask his date had. Deciding on one of the armchairs set by the front window of the place Iruka calmly sat down setting his bag beside the chair and pulling a file of his student's homework from yesterday out for grading. Humming softly, he went to work and soon the surly coffee slave proclaimed that his mocha chai latte with cinnamon -which, he decided sounded much gayer being shouted across the small shop than he had thought it would while ordering- was ready.

A few minutes later someone sat down in the plush chair across from his and Iruka looked up. "Is this seat taken?" Kakashi-san's eye crinkled upwards in an apparent smile.

Iruka couldn't help the stupid grin that spread across his face he quickly abandoned his work and pushed the file into his bag again. "Well it was reserved for a certain someone but I'm sure he wouldn't mind you sitting there until he shows up." Iruka replied.

Kakashi-san chuckled softly. "How's your day been?" He asked.

"So far it's been fine." Iruka stated, the faint scent of dust, silver polish and old books reached Iruka's nose and he concluded that the scent had clung to Kakashi-san from the antique shop. Iruka was happy that he wasn't the only one dressed nicely for the occasion, not that Kakashi-san ever wore anything he looked especially bad in but the navy blue polo shirt that showed off the man's exceptionally shaped biceps and forearms as well as the tan slacks that hugged his thighs loosely were a wonderful sign that Kakashi-san had tried to look his best while not overdressing, just as Iruka had done."You look nice." He choked a flush heating his face when he realized the silence had stretched on too long while he was busy ogling Kakashi-san.

"Oh um thank you..." Kakashi-san said haltingly. "...I was thinking the same thing about you...actually..." The last word was muttered softly.

Iruka smiled despite his lingering blush. "Have you ordered yet?" He asked.

"Yeah. What's this?" Kakashi-san asked eying the frilly drink curiously.

"Um..." Iruka hummed uncertainly picking up his mug, suddenly wishing he'd ordered a manlier drink. "MochaChaiLattewithCinnamon..." He muttered quickly.

"A what?" Kakashi-san asked looking half amused half curious.

Iruka repeated the name of the drink, slower this time.

Kakashi-san snickered but in a good fashioned way and hid his already covered face behind a long fingered hand.

"Whatever, it tastes good, alright?" Iruka grumbled embarrassedly sipping from his drink and set it back down on its little dish.

Kakashi-san hummed thoughtfully but Iruka thought he saw some playfulness in his eye. "I want to taste it." He stated picking up Iruka's mug and tugging down his mask. The Silver-haired man timed it perfectly so that the mug would cover most of his face as he sipped from it, a little to Iruka's disappointment, but not before the brunet glanced an image of high, pale cheekbones.

"Hm." Kakashi-san sounded thoughtfully, tugging up his mask again "It is really good. Sweet, but good."

"I have a bit of a sweet tooth." Iruka replied watching as Kakashi-san set the coffee cup back on its plate.

"Number thirty-four, Light roast, black!" The barista called.

"That's me." Kakashi-san stated standing. Iruka watched discreetly as the man turned shooting a few furtive glances to Kakashi-san's back. He didn't really care that he was leering. Three years. Three years of nothing but his right hand and there he was on a date with a stable, nice, hard working and extremely attractive man, he could allow himself a couple looks, right? Damn right.

As Kakashi came back Iruka scrambled to think of a topic they could chat about for the next thirty minutes. "Maybe some day I'll drop by Takanashi's and sample that chicken breast Kotetsu-san raved about." Iruka stated. "Did you study to become a cook or did you just learn as you went along?"

"I mostly just played it by ear." Kakashi-san shrugged. "It took me a while to learn more of the timing and a few tricks but eventually I got the hang of it."

"That's good to hear." Iruka said crossing his legs.

"Did you always want to work with kids?" Kakashi-san asked a moment later.

"Not really, I wasn't sure what I was going to do until I was about 20. Then I discovered that I was pretty good at it, so I thought that I might as well make a career out of it." Iruka replied.

Kakashi-san nodded. "Did you study at the university here?"

"I did." Iruka answered. "For both my undergrad and my teaching degrees." He sipped from his girly drink. "What about you?"

"Iiiii never went to college actually, and I was home-schooled for most of my education." Kakashi-san replied.

"Your parent's must have been busy." Iruka said. Even teaching one kid wasn't easy and especially if you had to study along with them for certain subjects.

"My father had some help but for the most part, yes, he was a very busy man."

_'"Was"' _Iruka mused. "I see. Well he and his friends educated you pretty well, it seems." Iruka stated hoping to steer away from the sad subject just at arms length.

"I suppose they did." Kakashi shot him an artificial smile.

"My parents were both teachers." Iruka informed. "My father taught high school students, I think. He was strict while I was growing up but he was a good man. My mom worked teaching grade schoolers like me. Dad always said she spoiled me." Iruka chuckled. The memories were bittersweet but he still kept them close to his heart.

"So your parents too?" Kakashi-san asked.

Iruka nodded. "I was ten or eleven. It was a car accident. They think dad just drifted off while he was driving." Iruka had had a long time to come to terms with his parents death so only a little extra moisture came to his eyes as he explained it.

Kakashi-san nodded. "My mother was frail and she died of a disease when I was a few months old. My father passed away when I was nine or ten." Kakashi-san's tone was impassive to the point of sounding indifferent. Iruka knew better than anyone not to hold the man's tone against him. Sometimes the only way to survive something like that is to look at it objectively.

Iruka chuckled wryly. "Funny how two orphans found one another."

"Birds of a feather..." Kakashi-san shrugged.

"Anyways, let's talk about something more cheerful. Do you have any friends at your work?" Iruka said.

"Gai, the owner of KKK, has been my friend since I was fourteen."

"Really? You two don't seem to... Well I mean... You're just so different." Iruka stated.

Kakashi nodded. "We didn't get along for a while but eventually we grew on one another."

"I suppose I can understand that." Iruka hummed.

"Asuma, Itachi's sensei, is also an old friend. I've known him since I was seven."

Iruka nodded, happy to listen to more things about Kakashi-san. The two men chatted on about small happy things that occurred in their lives and trivial little facts about themselves. Iruka's mind was like a sponge with any new knowledge he gained on Kakashi-san. His favorite color was blue. He had a fondness for pot-stickers even though he rarely had the patience to make them. He spoke of his younger cousins often and with the faintest light in his eye when he did so. He read a lot and they held a short discussion on their favorite books, authors and genres to read. Iruka had to resist bursting out in laughter when Kakashi-san admitted to being a fan of the Icha Icha series. Iruka mentioned that he had gotten a copy from Kotetsu-san as a gag gift a couple Christmases ago.

"I'm actually surprised you haven't asked about my mask yet." Kakashi-san stated after a moment's lapse in the conversation, resting his cheek on his closed fist propped up against the arm of the chair.

"Hm?" Iruka hummed surprised at the statement. He took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Well, It's kind of pointless asking someone wearing a mask what's beneath it." Iruka mumbled. "Besides, you'll probably show me when you're comfortable, right?" The man asked. "So why bother about it now?" Iruka shrugged.

Kakashi stared at him for a long time there was a hint of surprise in the man's eye. Kakashi-san stood from his seat and Iruka was concerned that he'd somehow offended the him but a moment later Kakashi switched to the seat beside Iruka and a warm hand enveloped the brunet's "No one's ever said it that way before." Kakashi-san squeezed Iruka's hand and caressed the back of it with his thumb. Iruka, although pleased, took a few seconds to process that Kakashi-san had taken his hand and to wrap his own fingers around Kakashi-san's.

Iruka turned himself in his chair slightly to face Kakashi-san but still kept their hands joined. "I suppose it's because I can sympathize." Iruka stated. "Usually, people ask about the scar." He tapped the raised line of flesh with the index finger of his free hand.

"I suppose it's stupid to ask if it hurt?" Kakashi-san asked a moment later.

"Like a bitch." Iruka replied. "It caused some serious damage too. Mom looked about ready to faint."

"How old were you?"

"Four or five. And it's alright to ask what happened, I don't mind telling you." Iruka said giving the fingers wrapped in his own a gentle squeeze and the masked man a soft smile.

Kakashi-san stared at him a long time and he finally asked. "What happened?"

"I was little. Some bully got ahead of himself, he had gotten his hands on a pocket knife. He was bigger and older than me and he tried to take something of mine, I forget what it was now. I said something mean and his friends laughed at him and, the rest is history." Iruka shrugged. "Its not a story for pleasant conversation. And I'm sure you know how people begin to tip toe around you when they think you have some horrible childhood trauma."

Kakashi-san nodded in agreement. "It looks almost as if he got it through the bone."

Iruka nodded "I'm sure he just wanted to scare me he slashed at my face and ti nicked the bone but mostly went through the cartilage. Surprisingly there wasn't a lot of blood considering the wound." Throughout this Kakashi-san hadn't made a single sound or motion that showed that he was disgusted or sympathetic. Iruk was happy not to see either of those wmotions but he still couldn't help but wonder.

"I'm surprised." Kakashi-san said. Iruka went a little pink as a rough thumb traced along the scar but he smiled all the same.

"Let's go out to dinner soon." Iruka said completely on impulse.

"I'd like that a lot." Kakashi-san replied picking up the new line of conversation almost instantly. "Anywhere in particular?"

"You can pick. I'm fine with pretty much anything but seafood."

Kakashi-san gave him a blank stare. "You do know the irony in that, righ-"

"Yeah yeah I know. Dolphin doesn't like eating fish. Ha-ha." Iruka scowled playfully batting his free hand at Kakashi-san.

He heard a snicker from the masked man and Iruka did his best to keep the frown on his face even though a smile tugged insistently at the corners of his lips.

"How does barbeque sound?" Kakashi-san asked.

Iruka nodded in a agreement. "Are you free Friday night?" Iruka asked.

"I should be. I'll text you." Kakashi-san replied.

"Okay." Iruka drank the rest of his drink in silence his eyes flickering up to the clock behind the counter which told him he had ten more minutes before he had to go. "I think I'll have to come here again sometime."

"Oh?" Kakashi-san asked.

"It's really relaxing, although that may not be a good idea since I may just fall asleep." Iruka said.

Kakashi-san squeezed his hand again. "I wouldn't mind tagging along making sure you don't oversleep."

Iruka smiled as warmth flooded his chest. He closed his eyes and rested his head on the high back of the chair. "And if you fell asleep too?"

"I'm sure some of the kids at the dojo are in need of a tutor, you could try that until you find another job."

Iruka chuckled. "Thanks for the reassurance." He said sarcastically.

"Anytime." Kakashi-san's voice was cheerful.

The mood had become comfortable, there was still an undertone of getting-to-know-you awkwardness but less of it and at a level where the two men could finally act a little more like themselves.

"I have to leave pretty soon..." Iruka sighed after a pause filled with quiet contentment.

"Same here." Kakashi-san stated.

Neither of the men moved. Iruka closed his eyes and again noted the way Kakashi-san held his hand as carefully as if it were made of glass.

"You seem to be in a better mood than Saturday. I'm glad." Iruka's mouth moved without his whole consent. He felt Kakashi-san tense slightly and Iruka attempted to salvage the easy mood from before with a reassuring squeeze to Kakashi-san's hand. "I won't ask again, it's fine, we hardly know one another yet. I'm just saying that I'm happy."

Iruka's hand was lifted and the brunet opened his eyes again to look over at Kakashi-san. The masked man pressed a kiss to Iruka's knuckles through the cloth of his mask and lowered it back to the armrest between them. Iruka heard the blood rushing through his ears and he smiled at the ground when he was too embarrassed to look at the silver-haired man any longer.

"I don't really know much about romance. I've never considered myself the type to get swept up something like that..." Kakashi-san began. "It's very likely that I'll get a lot of things wrong, and sometimes I may hurt you unintentionally." The masked man pinned Iruka with a serious look from his single, dark eye. "But please be patient with me."

All that Iruka could do for a moment was stare and gape at the man holding his hand so gently. Then he felt the corners of his lips twitch, then he smirked, a full blown smile stretched across his face a second later, embarrassing giggles a bright flush across his cheeks came next, his eyes crinkling until they were nearly shut as his smile threatened to split his head in half as chuckles grew into gales of laughter.

Kakashi-san looked a little embarrassed and annoyed when Iruka finally calmed down enough to squint at him with slightly watering eyes. Giddiness fluttered in Iruka's chest and the brunet only had half an idea of why. It was probably at this point in time that Iruka would recall that he had fallen for Kakashi-san, but had yet to find out.

"I was serious, why are you laughing?" Kakashi-san muttered still looking slightly mortified.

Grinning Iruka stood shaking his head. His mind couldn't process the concept of stringing words together so he prompted the masked man to stand as well. Glancing at the clock briefly Kakashi-san rose from his seat with slightly put out, slightly shut off look in his eye. Kakashi-san scratched the back of his head and kept his eyes away from Iruka's "That time alrea-"

The masked man's words were cut off by the pressure of lips on his cheek, or rather, the shock that it was even there. After a moment Iruka leaned away and finally regained his words as if his lips had physically pulled them from Kakashi-san with the brief contact. "Sorry, I didn't mean to laugh as much as I did. You just said something that made me really happy." The brunet shrugged, restraining another bout of elated chuckles at the awestruck look in Kakashi-san's eye and the way the masked man touched his face where Iruka had kissed him. The brunet spotted a hint of a blush edging out from beneath the mask. "I have no problem with being patient either. I work with 25 eight year olds, five days out of the week, seven hours a day. Patience is one of my strong points." Iruka shot Kakashi-san a lopsided smile.

Again rough-skinned, warm, bony fingers twined carefully with Iruka's. Kakashi-san wasn't looking at him but was observing the ceiling with a falsely bored expression in his eye that was somewhat ruined by the pink that still clung to his showing cheekbone. "Where are you parked?" Kakashi-san asked simply his tone perfectly level.

"A few blocks down." Iruka stated using his free hand to pull his work bag's strap over his shoulder.

"I'll walk you there then." Kakashi-san nodded. Iruka happily consented. The short walk was faster than Iruka liked. But as they approached the car Kakashi-san slowed his pace and asked. "So barbeque on Friday?"

"Yeah." Iruka said turning to face Kakashi-san. Kakashi seemed uncomfortable for a brief moment before leaning over and pressing a quick kiss to Iruka's cheek. The brunet smiled as that happy fluttering filled his chest once again.

"I'll call you tomorrow... If that's alright?" Kakashi-san said, his voice held in the same soft tone he had yesterday that made Iruka's heartbeat pick up and breath catch in his throat.

"I'd like that a lot." Iruka answered.

"Alright."

"Okay." They smiled at one another.

"..."

"..."

"..." Iruka's mind was filled with fragments of thoughts as he looked over what little could be seen of Kakashi-san's face.

"..." Kakashi-san's gaze flitted between Iruka's eyes and lips, it lingered mostly on the latter.

"Um." Kakashi-san cleared his throat "I'll see you at KKK tonight, right?"

"What?" Iruka asked, rather unattractively, in his opinion. "Oh, Oh, yeah. Yeah. I'll see you." He nodded.

Kakashi-san leaned forward again and this time Iruka leaned in to meet him. Kakashi-san stopped in hesitation, then slowly, slow enough to allow Iruka to avoid it if he wanted, the masked man moved his face closer to Iruka who happily -oh so, _so_ happily- closed the gap between them to brush the outline of Kakashi-san's mask-covered lips with his. There was a niggling irritation at the back of his mind at the fact that the mask was blocking full skin-to-skin contact but the rest of his brain was buzzing with endorphins and the sound of his blood pumping into his ears. His lips tingled where they met Kakashi-san's through that obnoxious piece of cloth.

It lasted a second, maybe two but Iruka's heart sped wildly, breathing became a little more difficult, his body heated up. They pulled away from one another.

Kakashi-san was staring at him. The dark eye wide and almost... awestruck? Iruka quirked a brow a goofy smile still on his face. "What's up?"

Kakashi-san took a moment to answer. "Uh, nothing." The silver-haired man shook his head slightly and glanced away.

"Well, I'll see you later." Iruka said, giving a stupid little wave as he released Kakashi-san's hand and unlocked his car door.

Kakashi-san silently returned his own small wave and turned to walk in the in the direction they had come from. Iruka hummed tunelessly on the drive back to work. He arrived only two minutes before the bell rang and had barely enough time to set up the activity for the kids. He hardly had a mind to be stressed at the moment and despite Konohamaru and his little gang's best attempts, the rest of the day went peacefully, their sensei being in an exceptionally good mood.

* * *

As they pulled into the KKK's parking lot Naruto fell quiet again. Iruka turned in his seat to look at him and stated "You're scaring me a little, Naruto." He tried saying it with a small smile hoping to emphasize that the boy wasn't in trouble.

Furrowing his blond brow the boy looked up at his sensei turned adoptive father and said "Sasuke's mad at me."

"Really?" _'How would you even be able to tell?'_ His mind snarked, perhaps a little rudely. Sasuke-kun was blank at the best of times, Iruka could only imagine how much the kid shut himself off when he was actually angry. "Why would he be angry with you?"

"I don't know! The bastard won't talk to me!"

"Don't call your friend a bastard."

"But he is a bastard!"

Iruka frowned slightly down at Naruto. "Perhaps this is just a misunderstanding. It's possible there's something else making him angry." _'He doesn't seem like he's the best at dealing with his emotions. But then again, what ten year old is?'_

"But then why-"

"Do you want to be friends with Sasuke-kun?"

"We _are_ friends." Naruto stated.

"Then stick by him." _'Naruto's been like this since Saturday. If Sasuke was behaving oddly last practice when Kakashi-san also seemed depressed...'_ Iruka's mind came to the conclusion that his and Naruto's troubles with the other two males were related to the same issue. He hadn't pried today despite the gnawing curiosity and the growing concern that racked his brain but he would expect an explanation soon if he and Kakashi-san were... dating. His heart fluttered even then at the thought.

Snapped out of his thoughtful daze by Naruto's urging Iruka turned off the car and opened the driver's side door. Naruto, already in his white outfit, bounced to the door of the dojo in renewed spirits babbling all the way. The little blonde's wide smile was contagious and Iruka found himself grinning back in spite of his worried thoughts about the masked man. Stepping inside, Iruka spotted Kakashi-san himself, leaning against the doorjam of the practice room. Kid's and parents alike buzzed around the waiting room.

Iruka was about to go and see if he could exchange a few words -He had no idea what he wanted to say, nor what he would say he just wanted to be close really- with the silver-haired man but his path was intercepted by Hiromi Hyuga.

"Hello Umino-sensei." She greeted brightly.

"Hyuga-san, hello." Iruka greeted, He wasn't displeased to see her, and she was a very nice woman but... He wanted to talk to Kakashi.

"You're looking well today." She said brightly.

"Ah, thank you, I'm feeling well."

"I'm happy to hear it!"

"How are you?" He prompted after a half second.

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine." She waved her hand. "I wanted to ask you something though."

"Hm?" Iruka hummed in question.

"I was wondering if you would like to organize a play date with Naruto-kun and Hinata?"

Iruka raised his brows in surprise. When he had first adopted Naruto he had tried to organize playdates. Naruto used to occasionally conspire with Shikamaru Nara, Chouji Akimichi and on rare occasions, Kiba Inuzuka for various pranks. Iruka had contacted their parents, all of whom, except for Shikaku Nara had politely (actually in Tsume Inuzuka's case, not so politely) declined. However, when the day came for the boys to meet up at the park Shikamaru's mother had called and canceled saying that her son was grounded.

She never gave a reason why.

Iruka frowned slightly at the memory but forced his face back into a polite smile as he accepted. "Naruto could always use more friends, let me ask if he wants to."

"Of course." She chuckled. "I understand they're a little old to be organizing playdates for but..." She looked from side to side and motioned with her hand for Iruka to lean in. He obeys with a small sense of bewilderment. She held her hand up to obscure her mouth from the side as she whispered conspiratorially. "I've noticed that my little girl seems to have a bit of a crush on your son."

Iruka's eyebrows shot straight for his hairline. "You think so?" He asked straightening again, she was a little more than a head shorter than Iruka.

"A mother's intuition." She informed sing-songedly

"Well if you say so." Iruka laughed.

"I think they'd make lovely grandchildren, don't you think?" She hummed pressing her hand to her cheek with a wistful look in her eye.

Iruka choked on the air he was inhaling at the moment and muttered weakly "Um... They're ten, Hyuga-san..."

"Oh, I know that." She waved her hand again and stated "I was talking about in the future."

"Um. Uh. Okay." Iruka sounded dumbly. _'They're still only ten...'_

"Here, give me your number." She commanded.

It took Iruka a couple of moments to process the change in direction of the conversation. When her command finally sunk in Iruka hurried to recite his number which she punched into a phone she had pulled from her purse without him noticing it. "Your partner won't mind, will they?" she asked freezing for a moment.

"Um... I don't really have a... partner." _'Not really, you and Kakashi-san only just started dating... Even if you really, really like him.'_

"Oh, then..." She trailed off. "... I see, I went and embarrassed myself last week didn't I?" She chuckled a moment later. "I'm sorry about that."

"No, no. It's fine, I know that you meant well, Hyuga-san." Iruka reassured her. "I was more surprised than anything else."

She smiled. "You're a nice man, Umino-sensei."

"Um. Thank you?"

A shrill beeping cut off the conversation and Hyuga-san looked at her dainty wristwatch. "Oh, I have to go, I'll give you a call in the next few days. Bye Hinata sweetie!" She called the last sentence to the lonely-looking little girl standing and looking lost near the wall. _'I can't think of two children more different than Naruto and her... I wonder what they'd talk about.'_

Iruka felt eyes on him and he turned his attention to the masked man standing in the door. Iruka smiled at him and walked over. "She thinks Hinata-kun has a little crush on Naruto. I think she just asked for help in playing matchmaker." Iruka said softly so the children couldn't hear.

Kakashi-san frowned slightly. "But they're ten..."

"That's what I said." Iruka shrugged. They stood closer than necessary but far enough away from one another that it didn't raise any suspicion. Iruka crossed his arms over his chest and Kakashi-san remained in his slouched stance leaning against the wall with his hands buried in his pockets.

There was a pause and Iruka watched Kakashi-san curiously "Just be careful, Iruka-san. Just because you, Hyuga-san and I know that there's nothing going on between you two doesn't mean someone else won't jump to the wrong conclusion." The masked man said, a deceptively bored look in his eye.

Iruka laughed a little nervously. "You make it sound like something horrible might happen to me..." He said.

"Hyuga-san's husband's a very powerful man..." Kakashi-san repeated his earlier words.

Iruka sighed. "I'll be careful... Hey are you alright?" Kakashi-san was kneading his temple, his eye shut in obvious pain.

"I'll be fine." Kakashi-san muttered. "It's just a head ache." Smiling sympathetically Iruka finally gave into the urge and reached forward to rest a hand lightly on Kakashi-san's upper arm. The silver-haired man opened his eye to look at Iruka and the brunet somehow knew that he was smiling back. "I'll be fine." He repeated.

Iruka nodded and allowed his arm to drop to his side. It was almost 4 o'clock. Kakashi's eye flitted up to the clock and he said "I'll talk to you later?"

Iruka nodded again.

Kakashi-san clapped his hands and called for the kid's attention. "Let's get to class." He called. The children shuffled into the padded room and Iruka left with a wave in Kakashi-san's direction.

* * *

Naruto was nudged off to bed by nine. Iruka sat back on the couch to relax and read a bit before bed when the phone rang. After checking the caller ID and feeling his heart leap a little as he read 'HATAKE K.' he pressed the phone button and lifted it to his ear.

"Hello?" He greeted.

"Hey, um... How are you?" Kakashi-san's voice asked through the line.

"I'm pretty good. I looked up a couple barbeque places this afternoon and it looks like most of them are downtown."

"Alright." Kakashi-san sounded a little depressed. "Which one do you want to go to?"

"Kakashi-san, you sound depressed again..." Iruka stated. "If you're not feeling well I can wait."

There was a pause and Iruka was just about to excuse himself when Kakashi-san sighed "Wait a minute, please."

Iruka frowned slightly "Okay." He heard the sound of Kakashi-san's soft breathing and the faint noises of footsteps and a door closing from the masked man's side.

"I've had to tell you something and I was hoping to do it over coffee this afternoon but..." He trailed off.

Iruka tensed. "Is it the reason for your and Sasuke-kun's mood?"

"How did you know about Sasuke?"

"Naruto."

"Ah."

"Yeah. So what do you want to tell me?" Iruka asked.

"I'm sick."

"What?"

"I'm sick."

"With what?" Iruka asked.

"My body's working just the way it's supposed to but in a way that's hurting me."

"Well then it's not really working the way it's supposed to then." Iruka said feeling a little impatient.

Kakashi laughed weakly. "My immune system is attacking parts of my brain." Feeling a clenching in his chest Iruka struggled to breathe. He froze his brown eyes going wide. "Iruka-san?"

"Are you...? Are you...?" He croaked trailing off a few moments later.

Kakashi-san seemed to understand Iruka's incomplete question. "There's a chance that I could die. It's small but it's there. I'm blind in my left eye and there's a good chance I may lose sight in the other too." Kakashi said as if reading aloud his own death sentence.

"I swear to God Kakashi-san if this is a joke-" Iruka started feeling a lump growing in his throat.

"I'm not." Kakashi-san said quickly. "I wouldn't joke about this."

"I... so... so what do you want to do?" Iruka asked breathlessly his mind still reeling.

"...I'd like to continue dating you." Iruka's shaking hands stilled a moment and his heart thudded loudly in his chest.

"C-can I... Can I think about this?" He choked.

"Take all the time you need." Kakashi-san said in that same soothing tone that created a small spark of something pleasant in his chest.

"Thank you." He said numbly.

"Yeah."

"Bye."

"See you." Iruka hung up. He didn't get much sleep that night.

* * *

I'm sorry, I now a lot of people here are SasuNaru fans. I've re-watched the Pain attack and Hinata's confession and... and... I just can't help but root for that pairing now! I have a bit of a crush on Hinata to be honest. Please review! :)


	17. Chapter 17

Hi... I loves yous guys... I missed you... I'm so sorry...

To the Guest Reviewer who, turns out, didn't lose their job: I'm happy you're still employed! I love you too (All of the homo... All of it e_e)

* * *

Chapter 17: Kakashi Melancholy and Poor Lies

Wednesday morning found Kakashi staring into a mug of cold black coffee questioning his decision. He had resigned himself to the fact that he wasn't going to be getting any more sleep around three AM. The mix of emotions, most of which he was unable to control nor understand made a noxious cocktail when mixed with the constant pain thrumming in his skull. He had laid in bed until four and rose following a routine his body had become so accustomed to that he hardly needed to even think about what he was doing. He was drained. Last night Kakashi had resolved to tell Iruka-san and had acted upon that, knowing that it was best that he let the man know before things got too serious between them. Running a hand through his hair he closed his eyes and slumped back in the chair. The smell of coffee recalled memories of their date. Kakashi still felt the ghost of the pressure placed on his lips by Iruka-san's own.

He'd spent most of the night getting up from his bed, or the couch and grabbing the phone and doing nothing but staring at it. Occasionally he'd pick it up and leave it in odd places. He was getting sick of seeing that faded number three button but it seemed like it was all that his eyes would move towards.

The phone rang. It was deafening in the empty kitchen. His heart skipped a beat and his stomach twisted in apprehension. Moving like the tin man in need of some WD40* Kakashi rose from his seat and stared at the phone briefly as if it may bite him then picked it up and looked at the little screen displaying the caller's name. His body flooded with both relief and a little disappointment.

He pressed the call button and, knowing his friend, held the speaker an inch or two away from his ear. "Good morning, Guy." He greeted in the most normal tone he could manage at the moment. He thought he did rather well.

"A Glorious Morning To You As Well My Eternal Rival!" Guy bellowed. Kakashi was happy with his decision to keep his delicate ear drum at a distance. "I Have Called To Declare The Time And Place In Which Two Mighty Stags Shall Lock Horns In A Test Of Youth!"

"What?" Kakashi asked, for once completely genuine in his obliviousness to what Guy was talking about.

"Ever Cool As A Cucumber, I See!" Guy declared without losing his temper.

_'Cool as a … What?' _Kakashi wondered. "I actually have no idea what you're talking about." It was a challenge, obviously but he didn't remember when he had agreed to it.

"Are you alright?" Guy asked. It used to throw Kakashi off how quickly Guy could switch from loud and ridiculous to the level-headed man (who only happened to have a fondness for bowl-cuts and green leotards) that only close friends would see.

Kakashi quickly decided to be at least somewhat honest. "I've felt better." _'Have I even told Guy about Iruka-san?'_ Kakashi wondered, his brain answered with a solid _'No.'_ He sighed. _'I'll tell him once we're far from civilization...with an umbrella... Better be safe and make that a wet suit.'_

There was silence on the other end for a few moments. "I Demand That You Meet Me At Teatea's Diner At 7 O'clock Sharp For The Mass Consumption Of Many Delectable Pies!"

Sighing, Kakashi leaned against the counter rubbing his healthy-ish eye with the palm of his hand. "Alright, yeah, pie sounds good."

"Very Well! The Loser Will Pay The Tab And Run Five-Hundred Laps Around the City Limits On Their Hands!"

"Okay, thank you Guy. See you then." Kakashi said his pounding head unable to bear the pitches his friend could reach any longer. He hung up. He massaged his temples, then pinched the bridge of his nose, then kneaded the base of his skull, none of these worked.

He went upstairs and into his bathroom to gulp down a few more painkillers. He hated how groggy and slow they made him but recently Obito's eye seemed to have discovered that it's presence was unwanted and was making one last-ditch effort to make the masked man as miserable as possible. In Anbu, Kakashi had been trained to withstand torture and his tolerance for pain was irregularly high. However, he realized early on that he lacked the mental conviction to ignore the piercing headaches.

A part of him knew in theory that it was ridiculous to blame himself for it while another part told him that he deserved the pain. When that thought had struck him it had dragged a few dark memories in behind it in a sort of grim procession through his mind.

~Flashback~

They had called it survivors guilt or something like that. Kakashi had been fourteen and freshly promoted to the highest rank that someone active in his profession could be. They had finally decided to inject him with the Ds3-8B Serum. While 'happy' had seemed like a strong word for what he had felt at the time Kakashi couldn't help the profound sense of achievement and he saw the serum as a sort of badge signifying it. Ds3-8B was the finisher, you see. It was what the organization gave their 'artisans' to give permanence to the unnatural enhancements and alterations the other, earlier serums gave them. It was expensive though, so it wasn't given to anyone below First Rank. Whatever goodness left in the world knew they didn't need Thirds or even cadets capable of ripping cars apart with their bare hands running around the world.

Many had congratulated him, a few telling him that his father would have been proud.

Kakashi had responded with "Only a weak person would try to make a dead man proud." Perhaps there was a little more bite to his tone than was necessary but he chose not to dwell on that and only those that knew him particularly well would have noticed it anyways. When Minato-sensei had heard his words the older man had given Kakashi a stern look but had said nothing. Kakashi pretended, as usual, to be unfazed. Rin had congratulated him as well, unlike a lot of the others she looked genuinely happy that he had progressed. Kakashi had often wished in his later years that he had been kinder to her at that moment. Her love for him wasn't a secret and now that Kakashi thought about it it had probably been the purest form of love he had experienced during that time of his life.

Obito had only grudgingly congratulated him and for some reason that irritated him the most. If it hadn't been for Minato-sensei's nagging Obito probably wouldn't have said anything at all. Kakashi had told himself that he didn't care.

A couple months later. Obito had saved Kakashi's life. The masked boy had been careless for just a second and by the time he noticed someone creeping up behind him the knife was already pressed gainst the base of his skull ready to slice through the small gap between the third and fourth vertebrae and severing his spinal cord without having to worry about too much of a cleanup. Obito flew in probably just the way he was always daydreaming about and terminated the enemy. Quick. Clean. Efficient. Like a true 'Artisan'. A strange sort of companionship grew between them after that. Kakashi would still talk down to Obito every once in a while but with less of a superior tone and more of (his version) of a joking tone. But soon, maybe after a year their friendship stopped growing and was replaced by a tension Kakashi to the present day still didn't completely know the source of.

Two years later a fight had finally broken out between them. They had viciously lashed out at one another. Rin after failing to stop them had ran to get Minato-sensei. Kakashi had won before the two had returned but not without a few serious injuries. Before passing out in a heap on the floor Obito had declared that he would reach First rank within a year and win a rematch between the two.

The rematch had never happened.

The year following that was filled with a black tension. Rin had tried her best to keep the team together but soon Kakashi and Obito would hardly acknowledge each others existence. Again, Kakashi had told himself that he didn't care. Burying the pain at losing a friend in what he believed was righteous anger.

A failed mission had blown away that lie as easily as if it were a puff of smoke. Kakashi had lost his eye and his estranged teammate was in the ICU with a million tubes in his body. Usually Danzo-sama didn't bother so much with keeping one Second Rank alive, the only thing Kakashi could think of as to why he was doing everything in his power to keep Obito's brain going was that the other boy had valuable information. Kakashi never asked. In that world made up of shadowy intricate infrastructures asking questions wasn't something someone did unless they wanted a contract on their head as well.

Kakashi told himself he didn't know why he had sat in his small apartment waiting for Rin to call. There were plenty of assignments coming in but all he could bring himself to do was stare at the wall trying not to flinch at the emptiness filling the left side of his vision. Minato-sensei had come to his apartment and softly ordered him through the stages of making himself presentable before taking him to the hospital.

Minato-sensei didn't speak besides that. It was then, in the blonde mans car, that Kakashi collapsed. Not physically, not mentally, he had collapsed in the one way that he had convinced himself he never could. Because a killer wasn't supposed to have emotions. Not even when his closest friend was dying and he was helpless to fix it.

Minato-sensei had pulled over silently and waited for Kakashi to stop shaking and his breathing to return to normal. The masked boy had no idea how long they had spent in there but when he had sat up calmly, his eye red and puffy but otherwise set in it's usual expression of arrogant boredom, Minato-sensei had set a hand on his shoulder and said "You're stronger for the 'weaknesses' you show for your friends. Please try to remember that."

"Kakashi." Obito croaked his words slurred from the numerous painkillers in his system. Half of his body was bandaged up, but it was easy to see the misshapen dome of the right side of his skull. His entire right arm was gone and what had been left of his leg had been amputated from the mid-thigh down. Obito had signed on for a lot more missions with other squads some even smaller than theirs. Rin had been with him luckily, but Kakashi had been occupied with a "big shot mission suited for the amazing Kakashi-sama" as Obito spitefully called them. The body guard of his target had half succeeded in pushing the boy into a trash compactor. Rin had rushed him home, stabbing him with a dozen different needles filled with epinephrin and regenerative serums to keep enough blood pumping through him and to keep his failing heart going to the point where the other boy had had three heart attacks on the surgeon's table.

Kakashi nearly vomited upon first seeing him. The masked boy was no stranger to carnage but this was his teammate. His closest friend. He wondered why he would call a man he convinced himself to hate a friend but he didn't need an answer. He already knew it, because he knew what he felt when he saw Obito open his eye.

"Obito." Kakashi spoke softer than he ever remembered doing so before and his feet moved of their on accord to take a step closer to the black-haired boy.

"Call th' do'tor in." (Call the doctor in) Obito said. Nodding, Kakashi reached for the buzzer that would call for a nurse but a pale arm flailed weakly in the direction of his hand. "Nah' yeh." (Not yet)

Kakashi pulled his hand away and stood patiently to listen to what he had to say.

"I'm nah' gonna live long like this." Obito gasped and Kakashi felt a newly familiar pressure in the back of his throat and a prickling in his eye. He didn't deny it though. "I kep' chasing after you and I thought, if I di' more things on- on my own, I could..."

"Don't strain yourself." Kakashi leaned forward trying to calm Obito down. While, at the same time his heart thudded heavily in his chest in the first stages of what would be a life time of guilt.

"Don' in'errupt." Obito gasped.

Kakashi leaned back and nodded after a moment.

"I di' some'ing stupid, Kakashi." Obito said. He let out a weak laugh "I'm sure you're not su'prised."

Kakashi frowned but wouldn't deny nearly a year of animosity between them.

"Danzo pudda serum i' my eyes... and since this one's gonna be useless ta me pretty soon... I wan' you ta have it."

"What?"

"Call in 'Sunade-sensei, if anyone can do it. She can."

"But-"

"Do it." Obito closed his eye briefly and opened it again, in the span of those two seconds the other boy's eyes turned from pitch black to red. Black spots danced lazilly around Obito's pupil and Kakashi barely maintained his composure at the sight of it. _'So this is why!' _It became clear the moment he had seen Obito's strange eye. Danzo was simply keeping a successful experiment alive until it could be replicated. Kakashi wasn't stupid enough to think the red was simply for decoration. He had heard rumors of eye experimentation, enhancing vision to inhuman levels. 'Artisans' were a special sort. They were often asked to tie up any loose ends or rather, cut them off entirely if necessary but %70 of their job was to gather information so small leaks were only to be expected here and there among their ranks.

Looking down at his friend who lay there, half conscious with the pain and the drugs being kept barely alive as some sort of specimen for the sterile-minded doctors to poke and prod at. Kakashi made his decision.

Nodding Kakashi pushed the button. After asking the nurse to retrieve Tsunade-sensei she was gone and he was left alone with Obito again.

"Why would you give it to me of all people though?" Kakashi asked, finally. "I thought you hated me." He spoke the words numbly.

"I thin' I hate you a liddle." Obito said a moment later. "But more 'an anything I wan'ed ta be acknowledged by you... azzan equal."

Kakashi didn't have a reply his heart thudded painfully against his ribs.

"An' Rin loves you." Obito said his lips turning upwards in a smile as he thought about the girl. Kakashi didn't deny this either. Somewhere along the car trip there Kakashi had seemed to have lost the ability to lie to himself and he hated himself a little for it too. "So she'll stay close ta you, don' you think?"

"Yeah... She might..." Kakashi said softly.

They sat in silence. Tsunade-sensei entered an unknown amount of minutes later.

Obito explained what he wanted to happen, she looked increasingly alarmed as she glanced between the two adolescents. "The serums you're asking me to use are still in the experimental phase it hasn't been approved for human testing y-"

"I don't care." Kakashi spoke. "I'll take it."

"Hatake-kun, are you serious?" She asked aghast.

"This guy never jokes about anything, 'sunade-sensei." Obito stated a weak attempt at a smile on his lips.

"I'm sure about this, Tsunade-sensei." Kakashi stated.

* * *

As they lay on separate operating tables only three feet away from one another with needles and IV's stuck into their arms Obito turned his head slightly as the fog of the anesthetic overcame both of their minds and bodies. "Promise t' watch over Rin... through my eyes." He said his eyelids drooping.

Kakashi hung onto consciousness as long as he could. "I promise." He slurred. Obito had smiled at him, he was sure of it. That same, idiotically wide smile that he realized wasn't so annoying after all. For being a genius it was funny how Kakashi realized so many important things so late.

* * *

The funeral was short, the attending party small. Danzo-sama, Tsunade-sensei, Minato-sensei, Rin and Kakashi himself sat in the tiny room where it was held. Danzo-sama spoke a few words that probably sounded perfectly appropriate to anyone else but to Kakashi sounded false and rehearsed. The masked boy had went out that night, violating curfew, with plans to break something, or many things just to get this unfamiliar overwhelming rage out of his system but instead, he had ended up wandering until the sun rose, at which point Minato-sensei had calmly walked up to him, set an arm around his shoulders and guided the lost teen back home.

Rin had confessed her love a year later. Kakashi had declined feeling a new guilt. A few months later, Kakashi had failed again to save a friend. She had just... It had been so quick... When had she ever learned to move that quickly? Kakashi had fumbled with various syringes and bandages but he was no medic. As she lay dying she had been the one to comfort him.

Another few months later Minato-sensei had died. It was incredibly unfair. Kakashi had been relieved when Minato-sensei had told him that he was retiring. His last remaining teammate had never said why, but there had been rumors that the man had made some roots. Married a woman. Some even said that she had gotten pregnant. Kakashi hoped that the child of his sensei would never live a life like his and despite never doing so before, he had prayed for its safety, if it even existed.

Kakashi had never paid much attention to the news but when Guy had walked into the masked young man's apartment with an uncharacteristically solemn face and a newspaper in hand he had snatched the paper from his friend and shakily paged through it, so roughly that he had nearly torn it in half until, with a wave of dread, he found a face that he recognized. He had found two names in the Local section. He was, for a moment, infuriated that it hadn't made the front page. A large black and white picture was placed at the top left of the article depicting Minato-sensei standing beside a beautiful woman. He wore a clean cut tuxedo and a megawatt smile, his hair as wild as ever. She wore a long white gown, a veil and silk flowers in her long hair wearing a smile nearly identical to her new husbands. They stood beneath an archway decorated with pale-colored roses. The happiness of the picture was ruined by the headline placed above it.

**Murder Leaves Police Without Leads**

Minato-sensei had died protecting his wife. The article hadn't said so but Kakashi was certain of it. The article mentioned that she was pregnant and, due to the stress had gone into labor at only seven months. Both of them were rushed to the hospital but the article neglected to say which one, for obvious reasons. Minato-sensei had died in the ambulance. Blood loss. Kakashi had briefly considered going to find her to see if she and his sensei's legacy had survived, but doing that ran the risk of alerting Danzo-sama, who wouldn't hesitate to use any sort of leverage he could over Kakashi at the moment due to his status as Pet Petri-dish.

It had to have been someone like them. A normal murderer couldn't have been able to even touch the man known throughout their world as The Yellow Flash. He had begged (in his own way) Danzo-sama for leads, for permission to investigate himself when he was told there weren't any. The man had answered no. Kakashi hardly spoke for a month. He shut himself off from Guy, his last remaining friend in the hopes that this curse of his wouldn't kill off the bowl-cut man too. And if it did, he selfishly tried to make it so that he could guard himself from the pain of losing someone again.

Guy had eventually resigned from their work but that by no means meant that he was safe. Kakashi remained closed off for another few years until he had gotten _that_ call.

* * *

They were young, the younger one probably didn't even know what death was before this. His black eyes were large and his face was pale and gaunt. His older brother was not much better, wearing a hospital gown and pants, he had a few minor burns on his face and Kakashi could see the bandages where the tween's gown was tied together in the back a pad of gauze held to an area on his right lower back that was already blotched with blood and yellowish serous fluid*.

"How old are they?" He heard himself ask.

"Seven and thirteen." Hideki-san, the social worker in charge of the Uchiha boy's case, answered still looking up and down the nutcase in the mask she had accidentally called to take charge of a couple of traumatized orphans.

Fire was nasty. The pain was unbearable. It disfigured and distorted, it caused sickening substances to ooze and bubble forth, the smell was terrible. If either one of these boys witnessed their relatives burning to death he wouldn't be surprised seeing the look in their eyes now.

He took them home and gave them cereal (The only food in his house) which they didn't eat. He didn't introduce himself at first until the third day when Itachi asked "Who are you?"

"Kakashi Hatake, I'm your third or fourth cousin. I'm not sure how it works actually. Anyways, we share a bit of blood so I was called in."

Sasuke spoke for the first time since the fire after nearly six months of nothing. Kakashi never pressed him to speak knowing that the boy would either never speak again or do it in his own time.

Sasuke had walked up to him as he was making lunch while Itachi was at school and tugged on his shirt. Looking down Kakashi asked."Do you need something, Sasuke-kun?"

Large dark eyes stared precociously up at him. Kakashi fought the urge to ruffle his hair, then wondered where the urge had even come from. He barely remembered receiving any affection from his own father. Minato-sensei had been his role model for most of his life and even then their relationship couldn't necessarily be called familial by most people's standards.

Partly out of curiosity he tried it, ruffling the cowlicked hair and chuckled as the little boy grumpily pushed his hand away, a little furrow in his brow that Kakashi wanted to press smooth. Kakashi chuckled and realized he couldn't remember when he had last heard that sound.

"Don't laugh at me!" Sasuke had commanded a moment later a little fist pounding on Kakashi's thigh that was barely noticed by the man now consumed in his own fit of giggles.

Drunk on the unfamiliar sensation Kakashi's laughter grew, this sensation enhanced by the shock he felt at finally hearing Sasuke speak. He shook his head trying to signal that he wasn't laughing at Sasuke. Frustrated tears swelled in the boy's eyes and Kakashi stifled his laughter to calm him down "Heheh- Don't cry -Ha- I wasn't laughing at you. Haha."

"Yes you were." The little boy mumbled. "You still are."

Kakashi squatted in front of Sasuke and and smiled for the first time in what had felt like decades and patted the boy's hair smooth where he had mussed it. "You're talking again, that's good. Don't you think so?"

Scowling slightly the boy nodded. "Yeah, I guess."

"Let's go out tonight and celebrate, Itachi-kun will be happy too. Do you want to go anywhere in particular?"

"Mochi's?" Sasuke had asked.

"Done." Kakashi nodded standing.

Itachi had been (his own version of) ecstatic that night. Kakashi, fascinated with the happiness of the moment sat by contentedly watching them as he ate. He concluded that night that he would build a good life for them. They wouldn't be happy all of the time, he couldn't do that for them but he'd do his best to make sure they grew up alright. That they wouldn't have to face anything harder than what an average life had to offer.

~Flashback over~

"Kakashi." A familiar surly voice was calling. He opened his eye to see the shadowy palm of his own hand. Kakashi pulled the appendage away and attempted a smile in Sasuke's direction. Standing behind him was his older brother, both of the boys had worried looks on their faces.

"Are you alright, Kakashi?" Itachi asked. He already had his school bag slung over his shoulder.

He couldn't get his mouth to move and instead reached forward and ruffled dark hair with a smile. He stood from his seat and took his keys from the kitchen counter.

"Kakashi." There was a tug on the hem of his shirt.

Kakashi smiled down at the boy "Let's get you to school. Hm?"

That little furrow appeared again on Sasuke's brow and Kakashi pressed a thumb to it briefly before walking towards the entrance to the garage.

* * *

Kakashi felt like shit. It had hit him just after he was done dropping Itachi off. He called Myoboku and asked for a sick day. Fukusaku-san had immediately told him to go and rest up. Things were never really busy there anyways. Unable to sleep, Kakashi lay on the couch reading before a vibration from his front pocket alerted him to a text message. It was from Iruka-san.

His eyes widened and he hurried to read the text itself **'Can I call you?'**

Kakashi nearly dropped his phone punching in Iruka's number.

Iruka-san picked up on the second ring. "Kakashi-san?"

"Hey Iruka-san." Kakashi tried to make his voice light and_ not_ like he was having heart attack that very moment.

There was a pause "You sound awful." Iruka-san stated.

_'How...'_ Kakashi decided that honesty was the best option. "I'm having a bit of a rough day."

"Your eyes?"

"Yeah." There was another pause and Kakashi broke through it. "So did you decide already?"

"I suppose I was in shock but after I thought about it a little it was an easy decision." Iruka-san's embarrassed laughter sounded miraculously from the other end of the line. "Afterwards I guess I just wanted to sleep on it, to be sure."

"You're killing me, Iruka-san." Kakashi blurted.

"Oh, sorry." Iruka-san apologized. "Well it seems like it would be a mistake to break things off now. I want to keep this going for however long it can."

Relief and elation swept through Kakashi and a stupid giddy little laugh slipped from between his lips. He quashed it but probably not before Iruka-san had heard it. "It would be easier for you if you broke it off now." Kakashi replied. _'Shut. Up. Ka. Ka. Shi.' _Kakashi's common sense commanded. He clamped his mouth shut.

"That's probably true but..." Iruka-san paused and Kakashi pressed the phone tighter against his ear hearing the plastic creak. "... I don't know what it is but, I really want to try this with you. Even if it's going to be difficult. I don't know how to say it any better than that."

Kakashi sagged. His eye shut. He closed the book and set it on the coffee table. "You're on your lunch right?"

"Yeah." Iruka-san answered.

"Mind chatting at me?"

"You mean with you?"

"I'm terrible at conversation. I'm an excellent listener, though."

"I think you do just fine with both."

"Is that so? You must not get out much then."

A chuckle from the brunet spread warmth from the center of his chest to the rest of his body.

"What are you up to?" Kakashi asked.

"Well, I was thinking about eating my lunch but at the moment I'm more interested in talking to you."

"You could do both at the same time." Kakashi suggested.

"It's soup."

"So?"

"You slurp soup."

"Really? Do tell me more."

"You're an ass." Iruka-san said with a laugh.

Kakashi laughed. "On the subject of food, you said you found some barbeque places downtown?"

"Oh mmf shlllii..." Iruka slurped. "Sorry. Yeah."

Chatting away until 12:30 they concluded that they'd meet over at Kakashi's place, which was closer to downtown, and they'd walk the seven blocks to the restaurant. Friday was supposed to be nice, if a little warm. Kakashi slid his hands beneath his head feeling absolutely wonderful despite the heavy throbbing in his skull.

* * *

"Kakashi! Come And Let Us Celebrate Our Youth With Delicious Pie!" Guy greeted him as he stepped inside the door of Teatea's Diner. Guy had already ordered six pies and Kakashi was seriously wondering if he'd walk away from this a diabetic.

"What flavors?"

"Key Lime, Strawberry-Rhubarb, Apple, Peach, Cherry And Yam!"

"Yam?"

"Yam!"

"Well, alright then."

Both men slumped nauseously in their seats. "Oh my God, I'm never doing this again..." Kakashi gagged.

"Perhaps seven pies each was too much, even for youthful men like us..." Guy grunted.

"So, a draw?"

"For now, my friend."

There was a pause where both men sat in the peak of their food coma's. "I haven't seen you much besides work, I'm guessing that means things with Cho are going well?" Kakashi inquired after a moment, realizing that he hadn't actually had a decent conversation with his best friend in a while.

"Cho Is Most Certainly The Most Beautiful Creature To Be Put Upon The Surface Of The Earth!" Guy proclaimed.

Kakashi smiled. "Is that so? I'm happy to hear it."

Guy looked at him for a long moment before turning his head away. "It Is Not My Youthful Way To Interfere When It Is Unwanted. But Cho Has Suggested That You Take A Friend Of Hers To Dinner. I have met her and she seems nice." Guy stated the last clause in a soft tone.

Kakashi quirked an eyebrow. "Sorry Guy but-"

"Please Hear The Rest Of What I Am Saying Kakashi, Before You Decline! I Cannot Remember The Last Time I Heard You Had Been With Anyone For More Than A Night-" Many occupants of the diner turned in their seat at that. Kakashi sunk a little lower in his seat but pretended that he didn't notice the many eyes now trained upon him. '_Thanks Guy.'_ "-But It Is About Time Men Our Age Find Partners To Settle Down With. I Know That For The Longest Time You And I Have Walked Our Own Paths Alone For The Most Part. But I Want You To Also Find The Same Happiness I Share With My Youthful Partner!" Guy proclaimed.

"Um, Guy?"

"Yes! My Reclusive Rival?"

"I'm actually dating someone right now, so thanks for the offer but-"

"What!?" The bowl-cut man asked leaning over the table with a look on his face that spelled out just how absolutely blown away he was by this news.

"Um, yeah." Kakashi shrugged looking out the window. "We're going on our second date on Friday night. It should be fun."

There was silence for a full four seconds. "Really?" Guy was watching him carefully.

Kakashi nodded.

"Very Well Then! I Look Forward To Meeting Your Special Person Soon!"

"Actually you've already met." Kakashi said. He could almost literally hear the gears grinding inside Guy's head.

"Naruto-kun's father, Umino Iruka-san." Kakashi clarified.

Guy blinked then recognition filled his eyes. "From the dojo?"

"Yeah."

"Youthful Joy Explodes From My Every Orifice-"

A slightly disgusted "Oh." Emitted from the masked man.

"-From Hearing This News! Love Keeps One Young!" Guy announced.

Kakashi smiled and thanked him.

* * *

Thursday passed by mostly uneventfully. Kakashi felt substantially better than the day before and his work at Takanashi's passed by quickly until noon or so when he spotted Iruka-san's work friend sitting at the table with his partner. As expected a moment later Isaribi-san, clipped the order slip to the wheel beside the little window between the kitchen and the restaurant. "Number seven with fries and a 43 with extra cheese." She called.

Kakashi grabbed the order and snagged her attention before she could return to work. "Isaribi-san, was this order from those two men?"

"Hm? Yeah, why?" She asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"I'll cover their bill. They're a couple of friends of mine."

Shrugging her shoulders she said. "Alright. They better tip though." She muttered the last bit as she turned and walked away. Kakashi quickly put their order together and walked it out to them himself. Kotetsu-san grinned widely at the sight of him.

"Ah! So you _are_ working today!" He exclaimed happily as Kakashi approached the table.

Izumo-san turned in his seat to see who the other man was speaking to and Kakashi greeted them "Hello Kotetsu-san, Izumo-san."

"Hey Kakashi-san, How are you today?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Kakashi replied.

Izumo-san smiled up at him. "Well that's good to hear. Iruka seemed worried yesterday. Since Naruto-kun seemed fine we wondered if something happened between the two of you."

"I'm pretty sure we're alright now but thank you for your concern." Kakashi said.

"May I ask what happened?" Izumo-san asked.

Kakashi rose an eyebrow. Answering questions about himself was never his strong suit. "I'm sorry, but I prefer to keep that between myself and Iruka-san." He answered politely and turned to leave with a wave. "Please have a good lunch, this one's on me."

Kotetsu-san whooped from behind him but he felt a hard stare-presumably Izumo-san's on his back until he was out of sight.

* * *

Friday morning Kakashi woke with a headache, as was quickly becoming the usual, and went about his routine with a spring in his step. He was slouching against the kitchen counter with his coffee in hand as Itachi walked in.

"Kakashi?" He called.

"Hm?"

Itachi hesitated. "Could Yahiko-san come over tomorrow night?"

Raising an eyebrow he tilted his head "You're dating now?"

Itachi shrugged.

"It's fine if you are. Just leave your door open."

A suspicious pink tint filled the teens cheeks and Kakashi wondered if he wasn't hallucinating. "...I don't know if we're dating or not."

"He came to your set rehearsal, right?"

Itachi nodded.

"Well he probably didn't do that just to be a good friend." Itachi still looked uncertain. "If you really don't know then ask. He could just be hesitant with you being a minor."

Itachi frowned but nodded. "You're... Are you still... What's going on between you and Iruka-sensei?"

Kakashi tilted his head slightly just recalling he had yet to tell both of the boys that he and the brunet were dating. "We're going on our second date tonight."

Itachi looked up in surprise "Your second date?" He repeated. "You're dating?"

"Yes." Kakashi felt a smile tug at his lips.

"You've only known one another for what? A few weeks?

"About a month. I think."

"Hn."

"Speaking of. What would you like for your birthday? I know I'm a bit late in asking this since it's only three days away but still..."

"I don't have much of anything in mind."

"Hm. Alright." Kakashi hummed. "Did you want a party sort of thing?"

"Maybe a small one."

"Alright, get in touch with your friends. Decide on a date and I'll make the food."

"Next Saturday will work."

"Alright. Don't invite anyone who will destroy my house though."

"... Most of my friends fit that description..."

Kakashi sighed "Fine, we'll have it in the back yard and anything valuable or important put in the basement until it's over."

Itachi nodded.

"Mind if I invite Iruka-san and Naruto-kun over?"

Itachi shook his head with the hint of a smile on his otherwise stoic face "I don't mind."

"Good, I 'll ask him tonight."

* * *

**With Iruka**

* * *

"I gotta peeee!" A rough little voice whined through the door.

"Just a minute, Naruto." Iruka called back carefully dragging the razor up his neck

"But it's an emergency!"

With a little sigh Iruka opened the bathroom door and a little orange blonde blur rushed inside. "I told you you couldn't handle that much apple juice." Iruka said frowning into the mirror and ran his razor over the last remaining strip of foam on his cheek. The sound of liquid hitting liquid and a contented sigh from behind him gave him reason to roll his eyes affectionately _'He's not even paying attention.' _He bent over the sink to splash water on his face.

A presence near his hip made him shuffle aside and Naruto washed his hands in the sink. "Naruto?" He asked pulling the towel away from his face.

"Yeah?"

"What would you think if I said that I were dating someone?" Iruka asked.

"You mean a guy?"

"Well, yeah."

Iruka wiped his face and looked down at the little blonde who frowned in thought and scratched the back of his head. "I dunno, I guess I'd be okay with it." Naruto hardly ever spoke so halfheartedly.

Iruka wondered for a moment before he knelt in front of him and said "You know no matter what you'll always be my most precious person, right?"

Naruto's eyes widened and for once the little boy was speechless. H recovered somewhat quickly blushing with embarrassment. He picked up another tack a moment later. "So wait, are you dating a guy right now?"

"I am."

"Can I meet him?" That was... excitement in Naruto's voice, wasn't it? Iruka smiled broadly.

"Um. Well you've already met him. I'm dating Kakashi-sensei."

Naruto's eyes went wide "So Sasuke-bastard could be my brother some day!?"

Iruka's eyes widened. "Eh, well yeah, maybe some day." He said _'Who knows? The times are changing. More and more nations are legalizing same-sex marri-' _He caught himself._ 'Stop thinking like that, it's only your second date! You've barely kissed the man.'_ "And don't call Sasuke-kun a bastard."

"Woooo!" Naruto cheered charging out of the bathroom not paying an ounce of attention.

"Gather your things we're leaving in five minutes!" Iruka called after the ten year old. He messed with his hair and put in a pair of gold studs and looked over the finished product.

That night was supposed to be very warm so Iruka had opted for light blue v-neck t-shirt and light grey boot-cut jeans folded up neatly to reveal a bit of ankle over flat pair of olive drab slip on shoes a brown leather belt finished off the outfit.

"Naruto are you ready to go?" Iruka shouted stuffing his wallet in his back pocket and his cell in his front. He felt oddly naked without his usual heavy work bag weighing him down.

"Just a minute!" Naruto called back. Iruka waited, checking his phone for messages. Naruto came thumping into the living room with his backpack slung over his shoulder. "I'm hurrying!"

Iruka just smiled and watched as the boy crammed his feet into his shoes.

"Good to go?" Iruka asked.

"Mhm!"

"Alright." Iruka opened the door and Naruto rushed by.

Iruka pulled up in front of the house and asked again if Naruto had everything that he needed. The boy was practically clawing at the door to get out before Iruka unlocked it. "Geez, why the hurry?"

* * *

**With Kakashi**

* * *

The doorbell rang. Kakashi commanded a halt to the furry infantry that was headed straight for the door and answered it with a greeting halfway out of his mouth when an orange blonde critter latched itself around his waist. "Naruto-kun?" The man said instead looking down at the boy, his arms held aloft in his indecision of what to do with them.

"Kaka-sensei, take me out for ramen sometime, okay?" Naruto half demanded, half requested with a broad smile on his face. Kakashi looked up briefly in time to catch sight of Iruka-san watching Naruto with wide eyes, something unidentifiable lingering behind them.

"Um, alright." Kakashi agreed hesitantly and gently unwound the boys arms from his waist and ruffled sunshine-colored hair. It was notably finer than Sasuke's hair.

"Woohoo!"

"You're so loud." A surly voice complained from behind Kakashi. _'Speak of the Devil...'_

"Whatever Teme!" Naruto stepped around Kakashi and hooked an arm around the other boys shoulders. "Let's go play video games again." The boys bustled off in a cloud of chatter.

"Hey." Iruka-san greeted. Kakashi realized that he had forgotten to greet him a little too late.

Kakashi smiled. "Hey." He ran an appreciative glance up and down Iruka-san's body and despite the slight blush on the brunet's face Kakashi knew the grade school teacher didn't mind him looking. Iruka-san was doing some looking of his own actually. "You can come in for a while, Itachi's out with a friend but he should be back any minute." Kakashi stepped aside and held the door open.

Iruka-san stepped inside. The deliberate gentle brush of fingers trailing over his knuckles was all the sign Kakashi needed to take Iruka-san by the fingertips and the tug man close. Kakashi leaned in, placing a clothed kiss against the brunet's lips. One that was quickly returned and later accompanied with a soft smile. Kakashi led him in the direction of the living room his hand still linked with Iruka-san's.

"Your day was good?" Kakashi asked after he felt the silence had stretched on for too long.

Iruka-san nodded. "Yeah, what about yours?"

"It was." Iruka-san tentatively stepped closer to Kakashi who only watched him,waiting for him to do something else. "And I think it's about to get better." The brunet reached up, brushing chaotic silver bangs out of Kakashi's already concealed face.

"I think so too." He noted the way Iruka-san's touch lingered over the eyepatch. "Iruka-san?"

Iruka-san smiled briefly and dropped his hand "Let's have fun tonight."

Already missing the contact Kakashi pulled Iruka towards him with two hands on either side of his waist. "Sounds good to me."

Iruka slid his hands up to rest on Kakashi's shoulders and the masked man noted how very good they felt there. A holler from upstairs reminded them of the presence of two adolescents. "I let Naruto know. It sort of just slipped out." Iruka said after a moment.

"Mm... Is that what the ramen thing was about?" Kakashi asked.

"Naruto and I bonded over ramen. It's his way of reaching out to adults, I think."

"I see." Kakashi muttered. He felt warm and comfortable, standing so close to Iruka-san. He was sort of half listening and half wishing that he could fall asleep. His thumbs massaged the firm flesh beneath the fabric of Iruka-san's shirt in slow circles.

They stood like that for Kakashi wasn't sure how long. Enjoying one anothers closeness. Eventually Kakashi leaned in resting his head in the crook of Iruka's neck. He felt one of the man's hands slide up from his shoulder to play with his hair. The other arm was wrapped around Kakashi's shoulders and the masked man linked his hands around Iruka-san's waist. _'God this feels good.'_

He felt and heard the low chuckle from the man he was embracing. "Long day?"

Kakashi closed his eye and answered "It's sort of been a long couple of weeks." He felt what he suspected to be lips pressing to his scalp and Kami-sama, that felt fantastic too.

The sound of keys in the front door signaled Itachi's arrival and both of the men reluctantly parted. "I'm home!" Itachi called stepping in through the door. Kakashi heard two sets of footsteps in the hallway and low conversation.

The teenager stepped into the living room bowing his head slightly in Iruka-san's direction with a polite "Hello, Iruka-sensei." Iruka-san returned the greeting.

"Hello, Itachi-kun. How are you doing?" Iruka-san asked.

"I'm doing well, thank you." He turned to Kakashi "Sorry that we're late. There was an accident on the highway."

"We?" Kakashi asked, hoping that the footsteps he heard coming closer didn't belong to Itachi's obnoxious blonde friend with the ponytail. _'What's his name again?'_

"Good evening Kakashi-san." Yahiko-san said as he turned the corner with a little wave. He seemed slightly nervous.

"Oh, hello Yahiko-san." Kakashi greeted, a little surprised and a little proud of Itachi. Things seemed to be progressing between the two of them. "Did you two have fun?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah." Yahiko-san answered as Itachi nodded.

"Well that's good." Kakashi sighed setting his hands on his hips and slouching. He turned to Iruka-san. "Iruka-san, This is Itachi's friend, Yahiko-san. Yahiko-san, this is Iruka-san." Both men smiled and greeted the other. Yahiko left maybe five minutes later and Iruka-san and Kakashi were almost right behind him.

On the walk over to the restaurant Kakashi restrained himself from linking their hands. Although all he really wanted to do was reach out and touch the brunet (and not necessarily in a sexual way) he had restrained himself from doing so for the first two blocks they had been walking.

They walked down the sidewalk lit by the yellow glow of streetlamps. As they got closer and closer to the downtown area the more people would pass them by. Most of the windows of the shops were dark, florescent lights promising many cold and intoxicating beverages buzzed angrily in the dim visages of bars and pubs. Clumps of people buzzed up and down the street a great deal drunker and louder than they were during the day. As Kakashi looked around he felt a hand sliding into his pocket.

* * *

**With Iruka.**

* * *

Hoping that he wasn't being too forward Iruka slid his hand into the loose front pocket of Kakashi-san's cargo shorts and wrapped his fingers around the increasingly familiar ones that rested inside. His heart made a little leap of joy when a moment later those warm digits curled around his. Iruka shot a glance at Kakashi-san's face and the masked man smiled back at him with a little squeeze to his hand. Two figures were approaching. Iruka didn't really pay them any mind.

"I hope the barbeque place is still open. It's so late already."

"It doubles as a bar, so I think it should be."

"I suppose we could have called ahead and asked."

"Where's the fun in that?"

Iruka chuckled copying Kakashi-san's habit of running his thumb over the back of the other's hand.

The two people coming from the other direction came quickly. Two men, maybe college aged with the slightest waver to their step. Both glanced quickly first at the brunet and masked man then both of their hands linked inside the latter's pocket. It happened quickly but it wasn't a mistake. Not at all. Both of the younger men split to avoid a head on collision but still knocked into both Iruka's and Kakashi-san's shoulders with intentional force. The man who ran into Kakashi-san grunted in pain as the masked man kept walking seeming as if he were hardly phased. Iruka however, stumbled backwards. "Watch it." The younger man growled.

There were times when Iruka's temper became a liability. This would have been one of those instances if not for the gentle hand that caught his arm. He turned to snap at the person holding him back until he caught sight of the look on Kakashi's face. Well Iruka couldn' see most of the masked man's face for obvious reasons, but if the positively arctic look in that single grey eye was any indication of how angry Kakashi was Iruka wasn't entirely sure that he wantedto see the rest of his expression and was simply glad that the gaze wasn't directed at him.

Kakashi-san continued to watch them as they left until Iruka ran a hand up the other man's arm scowling after them. "Come on, we should go." Kakashi-san turned to him and nodded. Kakashi-san didn't speak much more until they reached the restaurant. "Kakashi-san?" Iruka asked after they were seated with a small frown on his face.

"Yes?" Kakashi-san asked picking up a menu.

Now that Iruka thought about it, he really had nothing to say. He couldn't demand that Kakashi-san share his thoughts with him. He couldn't order the man to cheer up. He shut his open mouth and settled for reaching forward to touch Kakashi-san's unengaged hand and was strangely relieved when Kakashi-san didn't draw away from him. Iruka supposed some part of him expected Kakashi-san to do so. Mizuki had always hated PDA, especially after the rare occasions that there were incidents or stares directed at them. Iruka shook his head slightly, drawing Kakashi-san's attention to himself.

"Are you alright?" Kakashi-san asked. Those calloused fingers wrapped around Iruka's and relief and some of the nights earlier happiness washed through him.

"Yeah. Just a little ruffled I suppose..." Iruka said.

"I believe it. It took some effort to hold you back." Kakashi-san said his tone light.

Feeling slightly embarrassed about his lack of restraint Iruka used the hand not being held by Kakashi-san to flip through the menu, more for something to do than to actually read it. "I suppose I'm a bit of a brute." Iruka looked up and scratched the back of his head with a sheepish chuckle.

Kakashi-san smiled and tilted his head slightly. Iruka was happy to note that the mood of the evening was brightening again. "An academic brute?"

Iruka chuckled. "I suppose that does sort of contradict itself." He sat back in his seat "Hmmm..." Iruka hummed wondering at the wording. "It's kind of hard to remember that we're probably only a few years older than they are."

Kakashi adopted a put out look in his eye from across the table. "You make us sound like old men. I'm only 27."

"Me too but I guess a lot of growth happens between when someone's their age and ours. Especially after having kids."

"You're still making me feel old Iruka-san." Kakashi-san indeed didn't look reassured.

Iruka thought on it for a moment before saying. "You can just call me Iruka if you want. I don't mind." Iruka shrugged even though his heart had picked up the slightest amount of speed.

The masked man's eye widened slightly and he nodded. "Then please drop the honorifics for my name too."

Iruka tested the naked name on his lips. He would swear that he had seen the faintest traces of color in Kakashi's cheek. Fascinated slightly Iruka leaned forward with a small smile. "See anything on the menu that sounds interesting?" He asked without looking away from Kakashi's face.

They chatted, or rather, Iruka made small talk about his work, Naruto and his students while Kakashi listened. Iruka changed the topic back to lighter subjects, mentioning that he had seen a rather large pile of books in Kakashi's living room earlier and started giving Kakashi suggestions for things to read when the man casually mentioned that he was reading as much as possible now. As Iruka sipped more and more of his beer (Lightweight) The more honest he became. Kakashi sat by enjoying the show laughing along when Iruka admitted to something The masked man called _'endearing'_ in his head (_'Not cute'_)

"I thought you were going to eat me the second time we met. In front of the men's bathroom? Oh God that sounded really bad. Heheh." Iruka sniggered.

"You probably wouldn't have had to try too hard to convince me to do so. I thought you were quite..." Kakashi faltered "attractive since we first met."

Iruka squirmed in his seat and looked off, his face burning, both from the alcohol and the embarrassment. "You're enjoying this, aren't you?"

"I'm enjoying most of this evening actually."

Iruka felt a small smile tug at his lips and he looked up. "Me too." He hesitantly moved his hand forward. Taking hold of Kakashi's. Their hands remained touching for the rest of the time they sat at the table.

By the time they had left both men had eaten far too much and Iruka had ingested just enough liquor to cast a semi-permanent blush across his face and a barely detectible sway to his step. "That was really good. I'll have to go there again sometime." Iruka commented. Kakashi agreed. "Kami-sama, listen to the crickets." Iruka noted as the overwhelming noise of the insects assaulted his ears almost the moment he stepped outside.

Kakashi was quiet. Iruka was about to look back to see if the masked man was still behind him when a hand resting against the small of his back solved the mystery for him. "It's their favorite kind of night."

"Muggy?"

"They like that, right?"

"I dunno."

"Will you be safe to drive?"

"Mmm..."

"I have a guest bedroom."

Iruka paused a moment. The more sober half of his brain urged him to accept. The buzzed hemisphere of his brain agreed with it's twin and told the niggling little voice in the back of his mind telling Iruka he would be a nuisance to shut the hell up. "If it's not any trouble." Iruka stated. Looking at Kakashi to gauge his expression. Then he remembered that the fucking mask covered any expression that probably wasn't even there to begin with.

That lone dark eye turned to look at him and Iruka "It may not show but I do like you, Iruka. I wouldn't offer if I didn't want you in my house." He said in a casual tone but Iruka had a feeling that there was some sarcasm in there.

"Just making sure." Iruka shrugged. The palm resting on his back slid away to fold around his hand and Iruka happily held it.

"What do you like eating for breakfast?" Kakashi asked.

"Oh please don't talk about food again just yet." Iruka groaned holding his flat stomach.

Kakashi chuckled softly and gave the brunet's hand a squeeze. "I suppose we'll just figure things out in the morning."

They wandered home Iruka chattering away about this and that while Kakashi listened and steered him away from anything he might collide with while he was distracted. Iruka eventually came to a stop a little off to the side of Kakashi's front door and waited for the masked man to unlock it.

"What time is it?" Iruka asked vaguely remembering that they had been out for a while.

"Almost one." Kakashi answered from beside the pony-tailed man.

Iruka smiled. "Haha, it's been a long time since someone's made me lose track of time like this." He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Kakashi's covered cheek and leaned back again to patiently wait until the door was unlocked. But when he moved to turn his head a rough-palmed hand cupped his cheek. Another, nearly identical hand came to take the other side of his face and both of Kakashi's thumbs swiped over his temples to gently close Iruka's eyelids. "Kakash-" Iruka was interrupted by a soft pair of lips pressing against his, there was no cloth covering them this time either. The thumbs were still lightly placed over his eyes and he got the message they were sending. He savored the feeling of those lips on his the warmth flooding through his body and the buzzing in his mind. He would have tried memorizing every ridge and crease in the man's lips and the feel of nearly non-existent stubble but his mind was focused on other matters that didn't require as much thought. He slid his arms around Kakashi's waist and let out a soft sigh through his nose lightly sucking Kakashi's lower lip. A tongue traced teasingly over Iruka's lip. Iruka hummed softly before opening his mouth sucking the silver-haired man's tongue inside to play. Pretty soon Kakashi had Iruka panting and what the brunet didn't notice, was that Kakashi was breathing just as hard with a sizable lump growing in his pants.

Being deprived of his sight, Iruka was able to sense more with his other four senses he was pulled somewhere and he felt his back pressed against something solid and a little cold. He vaguely registered the clicking of talons on the floor but was distracted again by the sensation of a firm thing pushing itself between his thighs. "Mmmnn." Kakashi groaned in a smooth, low, incredibly sexy way as his lips pulled away from Iruka's pressing a few smaller pecks before he pulled away. "Kid's upstairs Probably no sex in the front hallway."

Even though the semi-hard appendage between Iruka's legs and a good deal of his brain and body was in disagreement with the masked man's words he nodded. "Yeah... You're right... But fuck."

"Not until later." Kakashi chided.

"Ha. Ha. Clever." Iruka rolled his eyes with a smirk on his lips.

Kakashi grinned wordlessly "Need something to sleep in?" Kakashi asked.

"Yeah, that would be nice."

"Okay, I'll set something up in the guest room." Kakashi said going up the stairs. Iruka felt a small twinge. It's not like he was really thinking about trivial things like sleeping arrangements even once throughout the evening. But if all they were going to do was sleep wouldn't it be more convenient to just share Kakashi's bed? He had just found something new and exciting and he wanted more of it. Was Kakashi worried about the boys reaction? He frowned softly. They had practically jumped one another in the hallway. So maybe Kakashi was just trying to keep the pace slow?

Iruka shrugged it off and, unsure of what to do with himself for the time-being, he sat down in the chair beside a large stack of books all of the same shape and brightly colored covers, lifted the top one off and flipped through it, paled when he realized what it was, closed it and set it back on the stack all in a matter of twenty seconds without a sound or even a change in facial expression.

"I'm hallucinating."

_'That's right, hallucinating.'_

_'If that's what's going to help you sleep tonight.'_

_'Totally hallucinating.'_

_'Yeah, there's no way Kakashi keeps a small mountain of porn in the middle of his living room.'_

Just to be sure he picked the top three books off of the stack and stared at their covers. Icha Icha Paradise, Icha Icha Violence, Icha Icha Tactics... fury of -perhaps, slightly unnecessarily- great proportions built until he tossed the books on top of the coffee table and stormed after Kakashi up the stairs. He told himself that most of his anger was due to worry for the impressionable mind of his ten year old adoptive son but the small twinges of jealousy weren't much of a help to calm his mood either. It was ridiculous, of course, to be jealous of a smutty romance novel. _'What's taking that pervert!?' _His mind raged.

Entering into the upstairs hallway his ire somewhat cooled by a strange, heavy sense of foreboding. He had never been in this part of Kakashi's house without the masked man himself accompanying him nor had he been invited to be there. Convincing himself that it served Kakashi right for possibly corrupting Naruto he pressed on stepping to stand in front of the only doorway with light filtering out of it. It was mostly open and Iruka opened his mouth about to chew the karate instructor out when he caught sight of the man's trembling form hunched over a chest of drawers with his back facing the brunet. Two wads of cloth lay near the masked man's feet and Iruka recognized them as sweatpants and a T-shirt.

The silver-haired man's stance faltered and he weakly clung to the piece of furniture for support. "Kakashi!" Iruka cried softly all previous anger forgotten and hurried to Kakashi's side. The slightly taller man was clutching his scalp with a single hand looking like he was just barely holding himself up with the other. "Kakashi, Naruto and I will go home if you need rest, I don't mind, really." Iruka said gently taking hold and putting a good deal of his strength into supporting Kakashi. He was surprisingly heavy for being so thin.

"No... It's fine. Get me the pill bottle on the nightstand." Kakashi grunted. Iruka did, but not before nearly dragging Kakashi over to sit on the edge of his bed. When Iruka returned to him with the pills Kakashi took the bottle hurriedly and tried to single one out with shaking hands.

"Here." Iruka said. Taking the medicine from Kakashi and setting a single capsule in the center of the masked man's clammy palm. He turned away so Kakashi could pull down that fucking mask and choke down the pill. "Do you want a glass of water? I don't mind getting it for you."

Kakashi shook his head his eyes were scrunched shut in a pained, frustrated way but he wasn't saying anything either. Iruka pulled Kakashi to him and with nothing else he could think of to do, he simply held on. Stroking Kakashi's back until the masked man's breathing slowed and the grip on the back of his shirt loosened. By then they were both laid on the bed. Kakashi was flat on his back with his eye closed. Iruka laid on his side curled around the upper half of Kakashi's body his thigh set across both of the slightly older man's upper legs and his arm, the one against the mattress, was situated so Kakashi could set his head on it comfortably, while the other rested on the masked man's chest while the hand attached to it played with his hair.

"That hurt." Kakashi mumbled, needlessly.

Iruka paused in his ministrations before quickly concluding what exactly the masked man was talking about. "It was scary to see you like that..." Iruka admitted. It had been disturbing to see the ever calm, ever collected Kakashi shuddering in apparent agony. The fingers combing through Kakashi's hair increased their speed as their owner's mood became slightly more agitated.

Kakashi was quiet for a long moment. "You could still get out of this you know. Things like this will happen again and you probably already have your hands full with your work and raising Naruto-kun."

"Enough of that." Iruka stopped his stroking of Kakashi's hair he pressed a kiss to the other man's scalp and tightened his hold. He noticed the way Kakashi tensed and the brunet loosened his grasp quickly. Kakashi must have noticed because he sighed and the exposed eye blinked open. The tension left Kakashi's body in stages as if being physically forced out. A large, long-fingered hand set itself on Iruka's jean-clad thigh and casually ran up and down the toned denim-covered muscle.

"I'm not terribly used to physical contact..." Kakashi mumbled his eyelid drooping again.

"I suppose we'll have to work hard so that you get accustomed to me touching you then." Iruka said pulling his hand out of Kakashi's hair and resting it on the masked man's chest.

"Mmm." Kakashi hummed and rolled them so he lay on top of Iruka and in between his thighs. The brunet felt a brief moment of anxiety until he realized Kakashi seemed to have no intention of going any further physically than they had earlier that night. The slightly taller man wrapped his arms around Iruka's waist with ease and rested his head on Iruka's chest. "No time like the present then I guess." Kakashi's muffled voice reached Iruka's ears.

"Kakashi?" Iruka asked. Kakashi was still except for slow, steady breathing. Iruka let out a soft chuckle. Seriously, he was that tired? Iruka rolled slightly to the side seeing if Kakashi would wake up if he moved. When the masked man's arms tensed around Iruka's middle, the brunet had his answer. Sighing softly he made himself as comfortable as possible and settled himself in for a long night.

* * *

**With Kakashi**

* * *

Breathing...Heartbeat...Warmth. He was on top of someone. He was sleeping close enough to another human being to feel their solid warmth through the cloth covering his cheek. In a surge of little more than panic he leapt away from them with his eye wide and focused on them. The sight of a startled and still groggy Iruka greeted him on the bed.

"Mmm... It can't be morning yet..." Iruka mumbled and rolled over with a soft groan. Kakashi's mind recalled his last moments of consciousness before falling asleep and was slightly unnerved at the fact that he had let his guard down so easily. He never believed that Iruka would hurt him. But if he wasn't careful and at some point he operated on instinct it was possible that Iruka would be splattered across his bedroom walls one day.

Kakashi felt slightly nauseous at the idea. Three years outside of the organization had made him soft. His eye traveled to the shuttered window through which the soft grey light of dawn was peeking through. Iruka muttered something in his sleep.

Kakashi slumped into the barely used chair in the corner of the room and put is face in his hands as he waited for the last of the endorphins to ware off. When he had calmed down slightly he remained sitting in the same position. He could have killed Iruka. At the very best he could have scared the living shit out of the brunet like he had Itachi and the man would probably never speak to him again. Kakashi couldn't think that Iruka would enjoy surprise asphyxiation first thing in the morning. He let out a wry laugh at the grim humor. He looked up when he heard shuffling from the bed. Iruka had rolled over, unconsciously trying to make himself comfortable in the street clothes he was wearing. At some point his hair tie had fallen out and chestnut locks spread themselves over Kakashi's pillow. That sleeping face was soft, completely unguarded. It was like Kakashi was staring at a creature from another planet. Almost like a completely different plane of existence. How had he expected this to work? The best thing that could've happened for the man lying on his bed would've been if he and Kakashi had never met. He lowered his head to stare at the floor, mulling everything over.

Iruka had a son. He understood strange things about Kakashi without the masked man having to say a word about it. He was too sharp to not be in danger if they got to know one another better. Being tied to Kakashi in and of itself was a danger. The only reason why the boys were still there was because... well...If they were adults it would be different. But until they were, Kakashi was looking after them. Iruka was a grade school teacher, loved kids, a good person, he'd be much happier with someone else. Much safer.

"Is it because I slept in your bed without permission that you look like you're trying to set the floor on fire with your eyes... Well. Eye?" Kakashi's head snapped up and he found Iruka sitting at the center of his bed looking mussed and a little worried. "I didn't want to wake you up and I thought that it would be better if I stayed and made sure that you were alright."

Kakashi looked him over, dark rings pressed against the delicate skin below concerned bloodshot eyes. Kakashi realized with a note of shock that the other man must have stayed up for hours to keep an eye on him. Guilt twisted in his stomach uncomfortably as he kept his face impassive. He watched as Iruka rose from the bed, tensed and relaxed as the brunet swayed slightly then steadied himself and continued to observe as Iruka approached him. Iruka's lower stomach was inches from Kakashi's nose and his eye wandered to the belt as his mind wandered vaguely to ideas that were absolutely not in the cards at the moment for either of them.

A mocha-colored hand nudged his chin up so he could look into those soft eyes. Kakashi's eye fluttered shut as both hands framed his covered face. _'He's in the perfect position to pull my mask off... If he slid one hand back maybe three inches... in quick move... One quick jerk... and I'd die...'_ He didn't feel the rush of the adrenaline nor the usual tension. He felt the shadow across his face before he felt short warm puffs of breath against his forehead. One of the calloused hands rose brushing his bangs aside and warm, slightly chapped lips pressed to his hairline. His eye fluttered closed again.

"If you're going to tell me to stop dating you. I want you to know that I'll drag you out to another dinner if I have to."

Kakashi reached forward and set his hands on the outside of both of Iruka's thighs. "You should break up with me." He mumbled.

"I'm not going to."

"What if I just don't want to date you anymore?" Kakashi thought before he thought about the impact that they could have. Tension filled the air immediately as he felt his own stomach clenching uncomfortably at the idea.

"You don't seem like that good of a liar." Iruka whispered. "You'll have to convince me. Until then, I'll still text you at lunch, and drop by to speak to you after karate lessons." Kakashi sighed, frowned and looked up into Iruka's face. "I won't invade your personal space like this again without your permission. But it doesn't change the fact that you're stuck with me."

"Do you think you could date someone you can't wake up with in the morning?"

"I don't know, is this something that has to be permanent?"

"Maybe."

"Your past must have been worse than mine." Iruka mumbled absentmindedly playing with Kakashi's hair. That felt so damn good. "We'll work with it for now. Let's just focus on being happy when we're with each other."

"You make it sound so simple."

"It can be." Iruka leaned down and placed a kiss on Kakashi's cheek.

"I doubt it." Kakashi muttered.

"You sound like a grumpy teenager now." Iruka laughed.

"You have morning breath."

Iruka sighed and said in a sweet voice "Are you sure it's not your breath you're smelling?" and pecked him again on the cheek before letting the masked man go. "I wonder if Naruto's awake yet." Iruka looked around and found the alarm clock. It read 8:30. "Ah well in another half an hour he will be." He combed his fingers through his hair and tied it up into a slightly messier version of his usual ponytail. Kakashi thought it looked better that way anyways. Iruka's clothes were wrinkled and one pant leg was rolled lower than the other but the brunet didn't seem to care. Kakashi took in the other man's disheveled appearance.

"Do you have an extra toothbrush I could use?"

Kakashi nodded and sighed. "The medicine cabinet in the bathroom off of the hallway."

"Thanks." Iruka turned to leave.

"Iruka."

"Yeah?"

"...Nothing, I'll make you and Naruto-kun some breakfast."

A little smile lifted the corner of Iruka's mouth and the brunet left the room.

Kakashi started breakfast after both men had straightened up as well as they could without a shower. "Are you sure you're alright to be on your feet?" Iruka asked.

"I'm fine, Iruka."

Kakashi heard the creak of the wood of the chair before he felt a hand slide up his arm. Iruka looked up at him with a concerned expression on his face. Kakashi lifted his and and smooshed the crease between his brows flat. Iruka, most likely unsure of what to do with himself stood still and scrunched his eyes shut. Kakashi took the opportunity to pull down his mask, lean in and coax Iruka into a rather distracting kiss.

Iruka seemed to have retained the knowledge from last night and fortunately kept his eyes closed. The brunet sighed and set his hands on either side of Kakashi's rib cage. It was a lazy sort of kiss with a low buzz of heat made for mornings. Kakashi banded his arms around Iruka's waist and pulling him closer so their fronts pressed together.

When they both had to unfortunately come back up for air Kakashi panted "See? Fine."

"I'm not sure if that really proves anything about how well you are but I guess I'll let it go for now. Can I open my eyes now?"

Kakashi tugged up his mask "Yeah, thanks." He pecked Iruka on the cheek hoping that he could convey how much he appreciated it. It wasn't so much that he didn't trust Iruka. He had a certain level of distrust for everyone even children. But he was more... It was just a matter of comfort he supposed.

"It's not a problem." Iruka murmured opening those soft brown eyes. Kakashi looked into them consideringly. "What?" The brunet asked after a moment. A little uncomfortable.

"I lied."

"What?"

"I lied."

"I heard, but what did you lie about?"

"I still want to date you"

Iruka let out a soft laugh "As if it wasn't obvious." He reached up and traced Kakashi's narrow jawline with his fingertips. "Thank you for saying so though." The brunet smiled and Kakashi felt his heart thud heavily in his chest.

The sound of socked feet padding down the stairs was their signal to reluctantly pull apart but through the morning Kakashi and Iruka seemed to stand closer, and touch each other just slightly more than necessary. Sasuke was quieter than usual staring down at his sausages like he wanted to murder them.

* * *

Well it took long enough to pry out of my head didn't it? With work, school, friends and a serious case of writer's block it has taken me... Holy shit, nearly two months. Eeeeh... Don't hurt me. :(


End file.
